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India has asked the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to move its Davis Cup match against Pakistan into neutral territory, as tensions between the two countries over Kashmir rise, an Indian official said .
The Indian team is due to travel to Pakistan for a Group A meeting for the Asia / Oceania region on 14 and 15 September. But relations between the two countries have been strained in recent days since India's decision, in early August, to abolish autonomy in the Kashmir part, which provoked a protest from Pakistan.
The two countries share a territory after the independence of 1947 and were at the center of the concerns of two of the three wars that opposed them.
"We asked the International Tennis Federation a neutral position because the situation is unpredictable … I think it makes sense because of the reality," said Sunday the president of the Indian Tennis Federation, Praveen Mahajan.
India has agreed to send its team to Pakistan for the meeting despite suspended sports relations between the two countries for years, but racketeers have pointed out that the situation in Kashmir has aggravated the situation.
Pakistan has participated in several sporting events on its soil, in neutral playgrounds in recent years, after many countries refused to send their athletes to the country due to security concerns.
Mahajan said he hoped the International Tennis Federation would move "because Pakistan was playing in neutral territory," adding that the federation should respond to the request "soon (…) in the week".
The president of the Pakistan Game Federation, Salim Saifullah Khan, has previously stated that his country would respect the decision of the International Federation if it decided to move the venue of the meeting.
In the context of the new crisis over Kashmir, Pakistan announced this week a reduction in diplomatic representation to neighboring India and a suspension of trade, while ruling out any "military" option in the dispute.
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