India vs Pakistan T20: No entry for five Pak envoys to Eden Gardens match

New Delhi: A fresh row threatened to engulf India-Pakistan ties on Tuesday, this time over cricket, with India set to refuse permission for five out of seven Pakistani diplomats to visit Kolkata for the T20 World Cup match on Saturday as they are all either members of Inter-Services Intelligence or defence attaches at the Pakistan high commission.

Sources said New Delhi wouldn’t let either ISI members or Pakistani defence attaches to visit Kolkata. That was why permission was denied to five of the seven Pakistani diplomats to visit Kolkata.

Islamabad sought permission from the MEA for seven diplomats to travel to Kolkata. India’s move comes just two days ahead of a meeting between Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif’s foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the Saarc ministerial conference in Pokhara, Nepal.