By Aslam Chandio, TwoCircles.net,
Islamabad: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board, Shaharyar Mohammad Khan has updated envoys from cricketing nations as well as head of the European Union in an informal setting, at a dinner in Islamabad.
On the occasion, the PCB chairman briefed the high commissioners and other diplomatic staff from 10 nations and head of European Commission posted to Islamabad on the general improvement in the security situation following the Pakistan Army’s launching of Zarb-e-Azab last June to eliminate terrorist safe havens in FATA and elsewhere.
Chairman PCB Shaharyar talked in depth over the steps taken and standard operating procedures adopted by PCB to ensure the safety, security and comfort of teams visiting Pakistan.
The Chairman PCB’s initiative was aimed at bringing international cricket back to Pakistan by first convincing the diplomats of the nations that Pakistan wanted to host for cricket series at national, sub-national, age-group and women’s level before doing a similar exercise with the Board’s counterparts in those countries.
The High Commissioners from Australia (HE Peter Hayward), Great Britain (HE Philip Batron), India (HE T.C Raghwan), New Zealand (HE Eamonn O’Shaughnessy), Sri Lanka (HE Jayalath Weerakkody), Bangladesh (HE Suhrab Hossain), Nepal (HE Mr. Bharat Raj Paudyal), Afghanistan (HE Janan Mosazai) and HE Lars Gunnar Wigmark, Head of European Union posted in Islamabad attended the meeting.
Diplomatic representatives and others who joined the briefing were: Mr MoinFudda, Counsel General, New Zealand, a representative from the Kenyan High Commission in Islamabad, Mr Ejaz Chaurdhary, secretary, federal ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination, Mr Shakil Shaikh, member, PCB Governing Board and Mr IntikhabAlam, Director, Domestic Cricket Operations PCB.
The Chairman PCB shared the roadmap being implemented to bring all other venues in line with top-of-the-line watertight security protocols already in place at Lahore and Karachi. Talking to the guests, he said that besides the senior tours, the PCB would also be seeking to host junior international teams and women’s teams and assured the audience that outfits of all denominations visiting Pakistan shall be provided presidential level security.
The Chairman PCB gave a visual presentation and dilated upon the impeccable security arrangements made during the recent tour of Team Kenya in December 2014 to Lahore, which was a huge success. He also said that the Team Kenya expressed full confidence and satisfaction on the security arrangements taken by the PCB management during the tour.
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(Aslam Chandio is an Islamabad based journalist. He tweets at @aslamchandio_ )