India-Pakistan Davis Cup tie postponed over political tension between both nations

India Tennis Association Secretary said it's not right to go Pakistan and play amid political tensio

NEW DELHI (AFP) - The upcoming Davis Cup tie between hosts Pakistan and India has been postponed amid political tension between both nations over the occupied Kashmir which special status was scrapped by the India, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said Thursday.

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) had requested the game’s world body to either postpone or move the Asia/Oceania Group I tie scheduled in September out of following rising political tensions between the two nations.

Relations between the neighbours are badly strained after India revoked the special autonomy status of Kashmir, which the nuclear-armed rivals have fought two wars over since independence in 1947.

The ITF, which was earlier satisfied with the security situation at the venue in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, said it was postponing the tie under "exceptional circumstance".

"Following an in-depth security review of the current situation in Pakistan by independent expert security advisors, the Davis Cup Committee has taken the decision to postpone the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I tie between Pakistan and India in Islamabad, due to be played on 14-15 September," the ITF said in a statement.

The statement added: "The tie has been rescheduled for November, with the exact dates to be confirmed by the Committee no later than 9 September.

"We are hoping that the situation will improve and settle down within two months and it will be conducive to go and play," AITA secretary Hironmoy Chatterjee told AFP. "As of now it was not right to go and play in Pakistan because of the political situation."

Pakistan has downgraded diplomatic ties with India amid a military lockdown in Indian-administered Kashmir.