INDIA'S SCHEDULED tour of Pakistan next month was called off on government advice yesterday following last month's Mumbai terrorist attacks.

The decision, announced in parliament by sports minister M.S. Gill, confirmed widely held expectations that the visit would be cancelled after the attacks which killed 164 people. Indian authorities say the attack was committed by militants originating from Pakistan.

India had been due to play three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 international between January 8-February 19.

"Government of India has advised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that the Indian team's cricket tour of Pakistan is not feasible in the prevailing circumstances," BCCI's chief administrator, Ratnakar Shetty, said in a statement yesterday.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had floated the idea of hosting the series in the United Arab Emirates, but Shetty told the CNN-IBN news channel there was no talk of a neutral venue.

Reciprocal agreement

Narainswamy Srinivasan, secretary of the BCCI, said the situation was grim.

"We are neither sad nor relieved," Srinivasan was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India. "It was a reciprocal agreement under which they toured India and we were supposed to tour Pakistan but the situation is now grim and we will intimate our decision to the PCB.

"We had always maintained that we need permission from the central government and were told it is not feasible to tour Pakistan," Srinivasan said.

The PCB moved quickly to invite Sri Lanka as a replacement opponent and said it bore no ill will toward the BCCI for cancelling.

Invitation

PCB chief operating officer Salim Altaf said "we are still on normal terms with BCCI because it was a decision neither in their nor in our hands".

"They (BCCI) have also said that if the situation gets normal in the future it would send its team to Pakistan," Altaf said. "Today we have sent an invitation to Sri Lanka to play three Test matches, three limited-overs and a Twenty20 international against us in Pakistan.

"We hope they will agree to it and come after January 20, shortly after hosting Bangladesh."