India v/s Pakistan: Pak PM will attend Mohali Semi-Final with Manmohan Singh

India v/s Pakistan ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday accepted his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh’s invitation to watch the World Cup semi-final between the cricket teams of the two countries at Mohali on March 30.

The decision was taken following a meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and Mr. Gilani, which began at midnight Saturday night and lasted for about two hours.

At the meeting, it was decided that “in response to the Indian Prime Minister’s invitation, the Prime Minister of Pakistan will visit India to witness the semi-final (of World Cup) between the two cricket teams,” Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.

He said that Pakistan had already welcomed Dr. Singh’s invitation to Mr. Zardari and Mr. Gilani to watch the match.

The News daily, meanwhile, quoted its sources as saying that Mr. Gilani would informally meet Dr. Singh during the match and a formal meeting would be held after the game.

Separately, The Nation newspaper quoted its sources as saying that Mr. Gilani would pay a two-day visit to India for a fresh round of “cricket diplomacy”.

It said that Mr. Gilani’s decision to accept Dr. Singh’s invitation has been conveyed to New Delhi through diplomatic channels.