Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05NEWDELHI1866
2005-03-10 12:42:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy New Delhi
Cable title:  

INDO-PAK CRICKET: FROM ""LOVE-FEST"" TO MINI-SUMMIT

Tags:  PREL PGOV SCUL IN PK INDO PAK 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L NEW DELHI 001866 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/09/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV SCUL IN PK INDO PAK

SUBJECT: INDO-PAK CRICKET: FROM ""LOVE-FEST"" TO MINI-SUMMIT
Classified By: PolCouns Geoff Pyatt, for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L NEW DELHI 001866

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/09/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV SCUL IN PK INDO PAK

SUBJECT: INDO-PAK CRICKET: FROM ""LOVE-FEST"" TO MINI-SUMMIT
Classified By: PolCouns Geoff Pyatt, for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) Adding to the veritable ""love-fest"" that Mission contacts and Indian press have reported surrounding the Pakistan cricket team's current tour of India (septel),the MEA has publicly cleared the way for an official invitation to Pakistan President Musharraf to attend a match ""of his choosing."" Despite media speculation about a Musharraf visit to Calcutta, however, MEA spokesman Navtej Sarna told PolCouns on March 9 that Musharraf would be steered away from that city. We surmise that part of the GOI calculus is to avoiding letting the West Bengal Communists control the visit, which for the Foreign Ministry stirs up memories of the disastrous Musharraf appearance at the 2001 Agra summit.
The MEA's apparent opposition to a Calcutta venue opens the possibility of a mid-April trip to Musharraf's home town of Delhi (see schedule below). Although Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's media adviser Sanjay Baru told reporters that this would be a ""friendly visit"" and not a summit, well-connected ""Times of India"" Foreign Affairs correspondent Indrani Bagchi reported on March 10 that the PM would host a meal for Musharraf during the visit.


2. (U) The 50-day cricket schedule is as follows:
March 8-12: First Test match in Mohali (Chandigarh),Punjab March 16-20: Second Test match in Calcutta, West Bengal March 24-28: Third/Final Test match in Bangalore, Karnataka March 30: Warm-up One Day International (ODI) in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh April 2: First ODI in Kochi, Kerala April 5: Second ODI in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh April 9: Third ODI in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand April 12: Fourth ODI in Ahmedabad, Gujarat April 15: Fifth ODI in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh April 17: Sixth/Final ODI in New Delhi
(NOTE: The inaugural running of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service is scheduled for April 7. End Note.)
MULFORD