Union sports minister M S Gill on Friday said the Indian cricket team should not undertake its scheduled tour of Pakistan in January.
Prior to going public he is believed to have informally made know the government's mindset to the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
- India's tour of Pak impossible: Gavaskar
India is scheduled to tour Pakistan from January 6 to February 19 for five one-day internationals and three Tests, subject to government clearance. However, the political scenario appears grim after it was found that the terrorists carried out the Mumbai terror attacks were allegedly Pakistanis trained there.
The minister said it is not the right time to play cricket with Pakistan when "people from their soil are indulging in mass murder in India".
"Is it possible for one team to arrive in Mumbai and indulge in mass murder, and have another team go and play cricket in the winter afternoon sun at Lahore, immediately after?," he asked.
Gill said he is not in favour of the Indian team playing in Pakistan but it is up to the government to take a final decision.
His categorical comment came on a day when Pakistan Cricket Board's chairman Ejaz Butt is scheduled to meet ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat and BCCI officials at Chennai in a bid to salvage the series.