A five-member Pakistan delegation left for New Delhi on Wednesday to join hands with India for the Olympic torch relay, a step that officials said will further strengthen sporting ties between the South Asian rivals.
”We owe this participation in Olympic torch relay to the Indian Sports Ministry and their Olympic association and our tour will further strengthen sporting ties normalised last year,” said the secretary of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA), Latif Butt.
The Athens Olympic torch relay will be in India on Thursday as part of its 33-city trek before returning to the historic Greek city in the countdown to the lighting of the flame in the Olympic cauldron on August 13.
”The International Olympic Committee [IOC] selects few countries and India was one of them and they invited us for the ceremony,” said Butt.
The Indian Olympic Association had invited Pakistan Sports Minister Raees Munir Ahmed, PAO president Lieutenant General Arif Hassan, and other members as a gesture of goodwill.
But the minister and POA president were unable to make this trip due to their commitments.
”After the torch-relay ceremony we will attend a conference of sports, which will also deliberate how to further bilateral sporting ties,” said Butt.
Besides Butt, former hockey Olympian Muneer Dar; Barrister Nawaz Qusuri, president of the Pakistan Tug of War Association; Syed Hassan Shah, president of the Pakistan Table Tennis Association; and Idress Haider Khawaja, associate president of the POA, are part of the delegation.
India severed sporting ties with Pakistan in 2000 over allegations of cross-border terrorism but revived them last year as part of its confidence-building measures.
Amid a thaw in relations Indian cricket team played a one-day and Test series in Pakistan in March and April this year, their first tour across the border for 15 years.
The stalled bilateral hockey series is also due to be revived in September and October this year with four matches in each country.
”Pakistan also backed India’s bid for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and would also support India’s bids for 2014 Asian Games and 2016 Olympics,” said Butt. — Sapa-AFP