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Special trains to India for Pak fans
India and Pakistan will run special trains from Lahore to Chandigarh to allow fans to attend the first Test.
India and Pakistan have agreed to run special trains from Lahore to Chandigarh to allow cricket fans to attend the first Test match next week, an official said on Thursday.
The details are being worked out by officials of the two countries, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh told a press conference in Chandigarh.
Thousands of Pakistani cricket fans are expected to stream across the border for the Test, starting on March 8 in Mohali on the outskirts of Chandigarh.
Long queues have been seen outside a special visa office set up in Lahore, the closest major Pakistani city to the border with major sporting and political rival India.
"We have issued around 16,000 visas after applicants returned in their filled-in forms along with a fee," said an Indian official at the Lahore office on Wednesday.
Singh said the people of Punjab would warmly welcome visitors from Pakistan.
"But accommodation for the 7,500 expected guests has posed a big problem," he was quoted as saying by PTI.
Singh, however, added there had been a healthy response from local residents to an appeal by the authorities to house the visitors.
"We will go all-out to give the best hospitality to the Pakistanis," he said.
Pakistan play three Tests and six one-day games on their first full tour of India, which ends on April 17.
The Test matches are scheduled for Mohali, Kolkata and Bangalore while one-day games will be played in Cochin, Vishakapatnam, Jamshedpur, Ahmedabad, Kanpur and New Delhi.
