Modi calls for South Asia peace in chat with Imran Khan
New Delhi, July 30 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to former Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan, whose Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has emerged as the largest party in the country's general elections last week, and called for peace and development in the South Asian neighbourhood.
"Prime Minister spoke to Imran Khan, Chairperson of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party and congratulated him for his party emerging as the largest political party in the National Assembly of Pakistan in the recently conducted general elections," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
"Prime Minister expressed hope that democracy will take deeper roots in Pakistan," the statement said, adding Modi "also reiterated his vision of peace and development in the entire neighbourhood".
Imran Khan has said that he will take oath as Prime Minister on August 11, the media reported on Monday.
Although the PTI has emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly in the July 25 polls, it is short of numbers to form its government independently.
To meet the required number of votes, the PTI leadership has reportedly approached the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, the Grand Democratic Alliance, PML-Quaid and the Balochistan Awami Party, as well as Independents.
Khan said on Thursday that his government would seek good relations with India and would like leaders of the two countries to sit across the table and resolve all disputes, including the "core issue" of Kashmir.
He said there has been a blame game between India and Pakistan with New Delhi holding Islamabad responsible for all its problems. And Pakistan is blaming India for what is happening in Balochistan, he said.
"We are (back to) square one. We are ready to improve relationship with India. Now it is a one way blame on Pakistan."
He said trade between India and Pakistan can be instrumental in eradicating poverty in the subcontinent which should be the focus of the two countries.
The 19th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Summit, scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November 2016, was cancelled after India, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh decided to skip the summit blaming Pakistan for not cooperating in combating cross-border terrorism in South Asia.
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IPL first phase schedule announced amid travel concerns caused by war in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28 as the BCCI announced the first phase of the tournament schedule amid concerns around players' travel arrangements due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.
All matches scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium remain subject to clearance from the Karnataka government appointed expert committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 13 to assess venue preparedness in the wake of the deadly stampede at the stadium last season.
The BCCI announced the schedule of the first 20 games on Wednesday and will unveil the full schedule once the dates of elections in three states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal -- are announced.
Besides the state elections, the escalating conflict in West Asia will also be at the forefront of BCCI officials' minds. The war has wreaked havoc to international travel with operations of major airports like Doha and Dubai being heavily restricted.
As a result of that, some of the squad members of South Africa and West Indies are yet to reach home a week after the completion of their T20 World Cup campaign.
It remains to be seen if IPL bound players of those two nations report to their respective teams in time.
"There was a substantial delay in departure of West Indies and South Africa players. It would be a tough task to get them back to India on time. Plus the airfares have gone up substantially due to the war in West Asia," a team official told PTI.
Additionally, hotels across India are facing cooking gas shortage due to the raging conflict and on Tuesday, the central government invoked Essential Commodities Act to ensure uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas.
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanthan told PTI that he is expecting his players from the West Indies and South Africa -- Akeal Hossein and Dewald Brevis, to join the team well before their IPL opener.
"We are expecting no delays from their end," he said.
The second game of the opening weekend will see Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium and the opening weekend will not feature any double-headers.
A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
"During the season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two in Raipur. Punjab Kings will play four home matches in New Chandigarh and three in Dharamshala, while Rajasthan Royals will play three home matches in Guwahati and four in Jaipur," said the BCCI in a statement.
"During this period (the first 16 days), the tournament will feature four double-headers, with the afternoon matches beginning at 03:30 PM IST and the evening matches commencing at 07:30 PM IST.
"Following the opening encounter on Saturday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka," the BCCI added.
