Cricket diplomacy: Manmohan invites Pak President to Mohali

This may be controversial as much of India is still raging,blaming Pakistan for the Mumbai attack.

Launching cricket diplomacy to give a fresh impetus to bilateral ties,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday invited Pakistan President and Prime Minister to watch the India-Pak cricket encounter in Mohali on March 30 when he will also be present.

In an identical letters to President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani,he said he proposed to watch the Indo-Pak World Cup semi-final and “it gives me a great pleasure” to invite them to watch the match.

“There is huge excitement over the match and we are all looking forward to a great game of cricket that will be a victory for sport.

Story continues below this ad

“It gives me great pleasure to invite you to visit Mohali and join me and the millions of fans from our two countries to watch the match,” he said in the letters to both the leaders.

Singh’s cricket diplomacy will be the first major bilateral event at the summit level between the two sides either in India or Pakistan since 26/11 attacks when relations between the two countries plunged to a new low.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram