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 Should India talk to Pakistan? Why not, say experts:
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Karachi:
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is awaiting the outcome of a
security briefing in New Delhi on Friday before sending its team to
the other side of the border for the World Cup to be held from
February 28 to March 13.
“We want to be sure that our players will get the
best possible security,” Asif Bajwa, the PHF secretary, told ‘The
News’ on Thursday.
“We will assess the security cover being offered to
our team by the event’s organisers and if there are no loop-holes we
will be happy to send our team to New Delhi because for us the World
Cup is an all-important tournament,” he stressed.
Pakistan is one of the several countries that have
raised security concerns ahead of the World Cup.
New Zealand has delayed their arrival in New Delhi
while teams like Australia and England are also seeking assurances
from the Indian government.
Things have taken a turn for the worse in the wake of
a specific threat against the World Cup and other sporting events in
India from top guerrilla commander Ilyas Kashmiri, whose 313 Brigade
is an operational arm of Al-Qaeda.
In an email message, he warned the international
community not to send their athletes to the World Cup, the Indian
Premier League (IPL) and the Commonwealth Games, to be held in the
Indian capital this year.
However, Bajwa said that this latest threat is the
least of PHF’s worries.
“We are not really concerned by such threats,” he
said.
He said the PHF is worried about the anti-Pakistan
mood that has been prevailing in India since the terrorist attack in
Mumbai in November 2008.
“We are really concerned about the safety of our
players because of the anti-Pakistan sentiment in India,” he said.
“We want to be sure that they would not be exposed to
any threat at the team hotel, on the road or in the stadium. We want
to be sure that they would not be in the range of any spectator who
might want to harm our players. These are the assurances we are
seeking and we hope that the organisers will come up with solid
assurances,” he added.
Bajwa is awaiting the return of a two-member PHF team
comprising Rana Mujahid and Shahid Parvez Bhandara to return from
New Delhi on Saturday.
“The feedback we get from them is going to be
important,” said Bajwa, who will be a part of the Pakistan squad
which is scheduled to leave for New Delhi on February 22.
(ANI)
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