India's sports minister Uma Bharti today rejected a proposal to play cricket against Pakistan to raise funds for the devastating earthquake in Gujarat.
Cricket officials from the sub-continent had arranged a one-day series between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the Gulf emirate of Sharjah next week to raise money for the survivors of the killer quake which has claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.
Bharti said she stood by the government's policy of not playing cricket with Pakistan, whom India accuses of fomenting violence in the troubled state of Kashmir.
"If they want to organise matches in aid of the Gujarat earthquake victims, they can do it in other ways in India itself," Bharti told the Press Trust of India in the southern city of Madurai.
"There is no need to play matches against Pakistan in Sharjah or anywhere in the world."
Bharti welcomed the cricket officials' initiative to collect funds for the quake victims, but said there were better ways to do it.
"I am happy with the suggestion that 20 crore rupees (4.3 million dollars) can be raised through the Sharjah matches," she was quoted as saying.
"But 200 crore rupees (43 million dollars) can be raised if our team plays matches with the film stars in the country."
Bharti's refusal to send the Indian team to Sharjah came a day after cricket officials confirmed they had received the necessary permission "from all three governments" to organise the event.
"All the three governments have agreed to the proposal," an official of the Asian Cricket Foundation (ACF) had said on Friday.
AFP