Davis Cup: Will government approve India's tour of Pakistan?

Hyderabad: All India Tennis Association(AITA) is confident that the Indian team will be allowed to tour Pakistan despite the government's policy of not allowing sports teams to travel there.

India is supposed to play arch-rival Pakistan in an Asia/Oceania group encounter in September this year, according to the Davis Cup draw held on February 6.

A day after the schedule was published, the sports ministry and AITA officials said that they do not foresee any hiccups in sending the team since 'the Davis Cup is the World Cup equivalent of tennis and not a bilateral affair.'

Hiranmoy Chatterjee, AITA secretary general said it is ‘mandatory’ for India to play this tie.

“Pakistan had come here for the South Asian Games (2016) and for the hockey World Cup. Now we have to go there for the tennis World Cup,” he expressed.

He also mentioned that both India and Pakistan are members of the International Olympic Committee, thus due to the Olympic Solidarity Programme, it is mandatory for members to participate.

Confident of getting the approval Chatterjee said, “We will apply for the visas and only the Pakistan Embassy will tell us if we can go. Our government will clear it because this is for sport".

Bilateral sporting relations between India and Pakistan have come to a standstill since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. However, there have been a few occasions when athletes from the two countries have squared off in various international tournaments.

Interestingly, no Indian Davis Cup team has travelled to Pakistan since March 1964. Back then, India had blanked their neighbours 4-0 in Lahore.