By IANS,
Islamabad : Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has congratulated Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on India winning the cricket World Cup final and expressed hope that the sporting link between their two countries will be fully restored in the near future.
India thrashed Sri Lanka by six wickets to win the World Cup final that was held in Mumbai Saturday.
India had moved into the final after beating Pakistan by 29 runs at Mohali – a match watched by both Gilani and Manmohan. The Mohali meeting between the two leaders was dubbed as cricket diplomacy.
Gilani commended the excellent performance of the Indian team throughout the tournament as well as in the final match, reported Associated Press of Pakistan.
He said the World Cup has been successful in bringing the cricketing fraternity even closer and making this sport more popular around the world.
The prime minister noted that the March 30 India-Pakistan match, which generated exceptionally high excitement and interest among the people of both the countries, also provided an opportunity to their leadership to advance the peace process and build bridges of peace, trust and confidence.
He expressed hope that the sporting link between India and Pakistan will be fully restored in the near future and the sportsmen of both sides will continue to play their important role for peace, friendship and amity between the two countries.