New Delhi, July 09: Having given the clearance for resumption of cricketing relations with Pakistan at the junior level, the government today made it clear that restoration of full cricket ties would be allowed only "when the time is right". "Cricket will form part of the normalisation process. When we find that the time is right, we will resume sporting ties on a bilateral basis," External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said here.
Encouraged by the recent peace initiatives by the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Indian cricket board had made a formal request to the government for resumption of cricketing ties with Pakistan to avoid being "isolated" in international cricket.
Both India and Pakistan have proposed to resume ties by playing a one-day match on home and away basis in September this year but the proposal is still to be cleared by the government.
Pakistan last toured India in 2000 after which the only cricket competition between the two countries has been in the World Cup.
As part of its policy, the Indian government had refused permission to the national cricket team to visit Pakistan for for a scheduled tour in April. Pakistan is scheduled to travel to India for a test series next February, but it has said it would not allow the team to go until India agrees to allow its team to visit Pakistan.
Bureau Report