Pak tour is on, says Sri Lanka

Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave the go-ahead after a detailed discussion with foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama on the security situation in Pakistan, reports Sutirtho Patranobis.

Sri Lanka's tour of Pakistan is officially on. Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday gave the go-ahead after a detailed discussion with foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama on the security situation in Pakistan.

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Subsequently, Bogollagama recommended to the Sports Ministry that the tour should be on as scheduled. The month-long tour of Lankan cricket team would begin on January 20. Questions were raised about the tour after the Sports Ministry had dissolved an interim committee for cricket in Sri Lanka headed by former captain Arujuna Ranatunga earlier in the week. Sports minister Gamini Lokuge had told HT that it was up to the government to decide on the tour.

According to the foreign ministry here, Bogollagama was of the view that "sport is an effective means of promoting connectivity between nations and thereby enhancing friendship and mutual goodwill between countries.'

Earlier, Lokuge had told the foreign minister that since the tour would take place under the aegis of the ICC, the tour should be subject to the ICC's security clearance.