Pak's call to participate in Asia Cup: BCCI

New Delhi [India], Jan 16 (ANI): BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary on Tuesday said the Asia Cup is a part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) and Pakistan has to decide whether to participate or not.

"Asia Cup is a part of the FTP. Irrespective of the names of the teams, the tournament has already factored in. There is nothing about it," Chaudhary said when asked about Pakistan's participation in the event.

"That is a question that Pakistan has to decide. In 2015, in the World T20 in India, Pakistan participated," he added.

In December, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi had warned the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that his country can exercise their 'right' to pull out of the Asia Cup, which will be held in India in September.

Expressing his views on India's objection to Pakistan hosting the 2018 Emerging Teams Asia Cup, Sethi said the PCB will decide whether the team will travel to India or not for the main event.

"I also raised the point that since the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is still awaiting an approval from the government to hold the Asia Cup and wants the visa clearance of all the participating teams, the PCB will decide whether to go to India or not because we are also bound by our government's clearance," Sethi had told Dawn.

In 2014, both the BCCI and the PCB had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which stated that both countries would play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023.

According to the 2014 agreement, India was scheduled to play six series against Pakistan, four of them were going to be home series in Pakistan.

While the BCCI has repeatedly snubbed Pakistan's request for resumption of ties, the PCB wants its Indian counterpart to honour its commitment under the MoU signed which is subjected to clearance from the Government of India.

Pakistan was expected to generate the bulk of revenue in these eight years by hosting India, but since the BCCI has denied playing the series in wake of tension between the two countries, the PCB suffered huge financial losses.

The BCCI in 2017 had rejected the PCB's demand for compensation for not honouring the MoU, saying the MoU was not binding and also raised the issue of security problems in Pakistan.

In May 2017, the PCB had sent a legal notice to its Indian counterpart for failing to honour the MoU.

"If Pakistan wins the case, India will have to give us the matches and for that purpose the FTP will be changed. And if we lose, the same FTP with some minor changes may go ahead," Sethi had said earlier.

The PCB had also maintained that they would only approve the new FTP proposed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after the dispute with India over the resumption of bilateral series is resolved.

The 14th edition of the Asia Cup will be held from September 15 to 30, in India this year. (ANI)