The President of the International Cricket Council, Ehsan Mani, today welcomed the decision of the Indian government to approve the resumption of cricketing ties between India and Pakistan at junior levels.

"The cricketing world welcomes this decision and I would hope that it will lead to the resumption of full cricketing ties between these two great cricketing nations," said Mr Mani.

"The match between these teams at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 was one of the most exciting games of the tournament played with a lot of goodwill between the teams and clearly demonstrated the ability of cricket to bring the people of these two countries together.

"Sport has the capacity to build understanding between people and I would hope that the Indian government allows cricket to play a role in promoting goodwill between India and Pakistan."

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