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Security representatives of the governing
bodies will speak in a telephone call that will also be attended
by India's Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathi, after which AITA
will decide whether the Indian team travels to Islamabad,
Chatterjee added.
The Indian side wants safety guarantees before traveling for the
Sept. 14-15 tie, with tensions high between the neighbors after
New Delhi removed "special status" from its portion of the
contested region of Kashmir.
AITA wrote to the ITF on Wednesday to ask if the tie could be
moved to a neutral venue or postponed after Pakistan last week
expelled India's ambassador and suspended bilateral trade and
public transport links with its neighbor.
India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir since 1947
and came close to a third in February after an attack on Indian
police by a Pakistan-based militant group resulted in air
strikes by both countries.
Chatterjee told Reuters on Thursday that the ITF had shared
security arrangements for the Indian team in Islamabad but had
"not said anything" about India's request to shift the tie out
of Pakistan or postpone it.
"We have been given time on Aug. 19 for a telephonic
conversation between the security advisors of the ITF and AITA,"
he added. "We will take a decision after Monday's call.
"We will try and explain to them the prevailing sentiment and
tension among the people of the two countries. The security will
be entirely provided by the Pakistan government which has
already downgraded diplomatic relations with India.
"The ITF needs to understand that there could be a possibility
of the security cover being withdrawn by the government due to
public sentiment. In that scenario we will be just sitting ducks
there. How can we take such risks?"
India's sports minister Kiren Rijiju has said the government
will not prevent the Indian team from playing the Davis Cup tie
in Pakistan because it is not a bilateral series and is
organized by a world governing body.
(writing by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; Editing by Greg
Stutchbury)
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