A file photo of the Pakistan cricket team.
As India and Pakistan get ready to face off on the cricket field this Saturday in the T20 World Cup at Kolkata, a new diplomatic row has emerged.
Pakistani government sources told NDTV that seven of their diplomats have been denied permission to travel to Kolkata for the match and India's deputy High Commissioner will be summoned.
However, top government sources in Delhi say two Pakistani diplomats have been allowed to travel to Kolkata. Five others, they say, are understood to have links to the ISI and the defence establishment in Pakistan, which is why travel permission will not be given to them.
Sources say around 100 Pakistani spectators have been issued visas to watch Saturday's game in Kolkata. Pakistan begin their tour with a qualifier with Bangladesh tomorrow and then go on to play India at Eden Gardens.
This is not the first controversy that has hit the India-Pakistan match at Kolkata.
The match was originally to be played in Himachal Pradesh's Dharamsala but ran into trouble after the state government said it would not be able to provide security.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had said the match be moved to another venue out of respect for those killed in the terror strike on the Pathankot air force base in January. A team of Pakistan security officials visited Dharamsala to assess the threat to the team, after which the venue was changed and the Pakistan team's arrival delayed.
Upon arrival, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi landed in trouble with his comment that he and his teammates were 'more loved in India than in Pakistan.' He received much flak back home and a legal notice.