Bopanna said in a social media post on Monday that the International Tennis Federation (ITF) did not accept any entry request for him and Sumit Nagal, who qualified for the men’s singles event.

AITA condemns 'misleading, inappropriate' comments by Bopanna, Sania Mirza

Indian tennis legend <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/indian-tennis-players-jittery-over-pakistan-tour-captain-mahesh-bhupathi-asks-for-details-of-security-arrangement-239528">Mahesh Bhupathi in a letter to the All India Tennis Association</a> (AITA) has mentioned that the Indian players do not want to travel to Pakistan for their Davis Cup tie against the neighbouring country due to security fears.&nbsp;

India are scheduled to play the Asia/Oceania Group 1 tie in the Pakistani capital on&nbsp;September 14 and 15.

WION has in its possession the letter written by Bhupathi in which he clearly states that most players do not feel safe due to the current political tensions between the two countries in the aftermath of the scrapping of the Article 370 which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.&nbsp;

"I am speaking on behalf of the team to officially put on record that most, if not all the boys on the team "DO NOT" want to go to Pakistan in these circumstances," wrote Bhupathi to AITA secretary Hironmoy Chatterjee on August 12.&nbsp;

"We do not feel safe regardless of what a security agency hired by the ITF feels," the letter further said.&nbsp;

Bhupathi has also urged the&nbsp;AITA&nbsp;to ask the players individually and&nbsp;ascertain their thoughts. He&nbsp;also requested for a "neutral venue".&nbsp;

"I still urge you to put in a request to the ITF asap for a change of venue since we do not feel safe," added Bhupathi in the letter.&nbsp;

The 12-time doubles grand slam winner had earlier written to AITA expressing reservations over touring to Pakistan and had demanded security guarantees.&nbsp;

On the request of the venue change, International Tennis Federation (ITF) had said earlier in a statement that it was satisfied with Pakistan's security plan for the event.&nbsp;

Watch the video that has details of Bhupathi's&nbsp;letter:

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"We are working closely with the host nation and independent expert security advisors — the ITF is satisfied with their current security assessment of the site and the security plan in place," the world body had said.

"The overall security risk rating for Pakistan has not changed, however, we will continue to monitor the situation closely with our advisors," it added.

AITA has asked the world body to conduct a fresh assessment due to the changed situation between India and Pakistan but the ITF has insisted that it is happy with the current security assessment.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, India's sports minister Kiren Rijiju said the government would not prevent the team from playing the Davis Cup tie in Pakistan as it is not a bilateral event.&nbsp;

Indian tennis legend Mahesh Bhupathi in a letter to the All India Tennis Association (AITA) has mentioned that the Indian players do not want to travel to Pakistan for their Davis Cup tie against the neighbouring country due to security fears.

Indian tennis legend Mahesh Bhupathi in a letter to the All India Tennis Association (AITA) has mentioned that the Indian players do not want to travel to Pakistan for their Davis Cup tie against the neighbouring country due to security fears. India are scheduled to play the Asia/Oceania Group 1 tie in the Pakistani capital on September 14 and 15. WION has in its possession the letter written by Bhupathi in which he clearly states that most players do not feel safe due to the current political tensions between the two countries in the aftermath of the scrapping of the Article 370 which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. "I am speaking on behalf of the team to officially put on record that most, if not all the boys on the team "DO NOT" want to go to Pakistan in these circumstances," wrote Bhupathi to AITA secretary Hironmoy Chatterjee on August 12. "We do not feel safe regardless of what a security agency hired by the ITF feels," the letter further said. Bhupathi has also urged the AITA to ask the players individually and ascertain their thoughts. He also requested for a "neutral venue". "I still urge you to put in a request to the ITF asap for a change of venue since we do not feel safe," added Bhupathi in the letter. The 12-time doubles grand slam winner had earlier written to AITA expressing reservations over touring to Pakistan and had demanded security guarantees. On the request of the venue change, International Tennis Federation (ITF) had said earlier in a statement that it was satisfied with Pakistan's security plan for the event. Watch the video that has details of Bhupathi's letter: × "We are working closely with the host nation and independent expert security advisors — the ITF is satisfied with their current security assessment of the site and the security plan in place," the world body had said. "The overall security risk rating for Pakistan has not changed, however, we will continue to monitor the situation closely with our advisors," it added. AITA has asked the world body to conduct a fresh assessment due to the changed situation between India and Pakistan but the ITF has insisted that it is happy with the current security assessment. Meanwhile, India's sports minister Kiren Rijiju said the government would not prevent the team from playing the Davis Cup tie in Pakistan as it is not a bilateral event.

Davis Cup: Mahesh Bhupathi again writes to AITA, says most players 'do not want' to tour Pakistan

The Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju has said that an isolated stand cannot be taken when it comes to multilateral events organised by international bodies.

His remarks came after All India Tennis Association's (AITA) decision to travel to Pakistan to take part in the upcoming Davis Cup.

"I have already made it clear. Any bilateral match with Pakistan will have to get clearance from the government but if it is a multilateral event organised by international bodies then we cannot take our own isolated stand. We have to be very clear," Rijiju told reporters at an event.

However, Rijiju also remarked that any bilateral event between the two countries will require a political sanction."Any bilateral match with Pakistan must have a political sanction, otherwise, I just cannot go on commenting on every match. The security issue is completely different from the issue of the game," Rijiju said.

On August 5, India abrogated Article 370 which accorded a special status to Jammu and Kashmir after a resolution regarding the same was passed in both houses of the Parliament.

The Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Bill 2019 was also passed which converted Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir (with a legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature) and after this decision, Pakistan decided to downgrade diplomatic ties with India.

Seeing the downgrading of diplomatic ties, AITA Secretary-General Hironmoy Chatterjee had said that the International Tennis Federation (ITF) will decide whether India plays against Pakistan or not.

"Idea is, for ITF to see the situation is conducive or not. Let the ITF decide on the situation primarily, if they find the situation is very sensitive as Pakistan have severed all diplomatic ties with India, then they will not issue a visa. If they do not issue the visa, so how would we go there. In that case, Pakistan will get penalised and the tie will get shifted to a neutral venue," Chatterjee had told ANI.

The Indian team is scheduled to travel Pakistan for the first time in 55 years to participate in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group-1 tie at Islamabad on September 14 and 15.

Chatterjee said that if India opts out of playing against Pakistan, it will invite penalty. He added that if Pakistan does not issue visas to the players they will be unable to travel.

"We don`t want to be in a situation where we will say that we don`t want to go. It is too early to say anything, the situation has become a bit tense after the scrapping of Article 370. We are going to go through the process," Chatterjee had said.

Chatterjee had added that the AITA is also gathering information from the players for the visa application of Pakistan.

"Regarding this, we did not have any meeting, we need to put in an application and we are gathering the information for the application of visa as the players are playing in different competitions around the world," Chatterjee had said.AITA on August 5 had announced Mahesh Bhupathi as the skipper for the India-Pakistan Davis Cup tie on September 14 and 15 in Islamabad.&nbsp;

Six players were named by the association, who will be taking part in Davis Cup. Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Saketh Myneni, Rohan Bopanna, Divij Sharan and Sasi Kumar Mukund were all named in the lineup.

Mukund was named as the reserve and Zeeshan Ali was announced as the coach of the team.

The Davis Cup draw was rolled out in February this year, but after the Pulwama attack on February 14, chances of the Indian tennis team touring Pakistan looked bleak.

The Indian cricket team had last toured Pakistan in 2007, and after that, no team across any sport has toured Pakistan.

India last played Pakistan in the Davis Cup in 2006 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, in which the hosts managed to register a 3-2 win to take India`s head-to-head tally against Pakistan to 6-0.

The Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju has said that an isolated stand cannot be taken when it comes to multilateral events organised by international bodies.

The Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju has said that an isolated stand cannot be taken when it comes to multilateral events organised by international bodies. His remarks came after All India Tennis Association's (AITA) decision to travel to Pakistan to take part in the upcoming Davis Cup. "I have already made it clear. Any bilateral match with Pakistan will have to get clearance from the government but if it is a multilateral event organised by international bodies then we cannot take our own isolated stand. We have to be very clear," Rijiju told reporters at an event. However, Rijiju also remarked that any bilateral event between the two countries will require a political sanction."Any bilateral match with Pakistan must have a political sanction, otherwise, I just cannot go on commenting on every match. The security issue is completely different from the issue of the game," Rijiju said. On August 5, India abrogated Article 370 which accorded a special status to Jammu and Kashmir after a resolution regarding the same was passed in both houses of the Parliament. The Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Bill 2019 was also passed which converted Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir (with a legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature) and after this decision, Pakistan decided to downgrade diplomatic ties with India. Seeing the downgrading of diplomatic ties, AITA Secretary-General Hironmoy Chatterjee had said that the International Tennis Federation (ITF) will decide whether India plays against Pakistan or not. "Idea is, for ITF to see the situation is conducive or not. Let the ITF decide on the situation primarily, if they find the situation is very sensitive as Pakistan have severed all diplomatic ties with India, then they will not issue a visa. If they do not issue the visa, so how would we go there. In that case, Pakistan will get penalised and the tie will get shifted to a neutral venue," Chatterjee had told ANI. The Indian team is scheduled to travel Pakistan for the first time in 55 years to participate in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group-1 tie at Islamabad on September 14 and 15. Chatterjee said that if India opts out of playing against Pakistan, it will invite penalty. He added that if Pakistan does not issue visas to the players they will be unable to travel. "We don`t want to be in a situation where we will say that we don`t want to go. It is too early to say anything, the situation has become a bit tense after the scrapping of Article 370. We are going to go through the process," Chatterjee had said. Chatterjee had added that the AITA is also gathering information from the players for the visa application of Pakistan. "Regarding this, we did not have any meeting, we need to put in an application and we are gathering the information for the application of visa as the players are playing in different competitions around the world," Chatterjee had said.AITA on August 5 had announced Mahesh Bhupathi as the skipper for the India-Pakistan Davis Cup tie on September 14 and 15 in Islamabad. Six players were named by the association, who will be taking part in Davis Cup. Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Saketh Myneni, Rohan Bopanna, Divij Sharan and Sasi Kumar Mukund were all named in the lineup. Mukund was named as the reserve and Zeeshan Ali was announced as the coach of the team. The Davis Cup draw was rolled out in February this year, but after the Pulwama attack on February 14, chances of the Indian tennis team touring Pakistan looked bleak. The Indian cricket team had last toured Pakistan in 2007, and after that, no team across any sport has toured Pakistan. India last played Pakistan in the Davis Cup in 2006 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, in which the hosts managed to register a 3-2 win to take India`s head-to-head tally against Pakistan to 6-0.

Cannot take an isolated stand in multilateral events: Kiren Rijiju 

The Indian tennis team's proposed trip to Islamabad to play the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group 1 tie in September has run into rough weather. WION has exclusive details that non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi has expressed his reservations in a strongly worded letter to the All India Tennis Association (AITA).

In his letter, Bhupathi has asked AITA to provide the players and coaching staff details of the security arrangements being made for the tie.

When contacted, Bhupathi declined to comment on the contents of the letter.

But sources have revealed that the 12-time grand slam winner has informed AITA that a few players are unhappy about touring Pakistan. Bhupathi has made it clear that if required, the players would put the national interest ahead of their reservations and play the Davis Cup tie. But he has asked AITA to detail the security arrangements that have been put in place for the Indian team.

This comes days after AITA secretary general Hironmoy Chatterjee made a massive announcement on Saturday. "Our team will be going to Pakistan for Davis Cup. We have got the invitation letters, now we will apply for visa. Team selection has not been done yet, it will start on August 5. Our team will go around September 10," Hironmoy Chatterjee said.

Sources said that AITA wrote to Union Sports Ministry for clearance on May 21, but the ministry washed its hands off the matter saying its permission was not required.

When it comes to touring Pakistan, the clearance of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is a must, said sources, adding that the MEA has not received any such request from AITA.

The issue of players' security is vital, and that is precisely the reason why all tours of Pakistan have to be cleared by security agencies.

The Indian cricket board sent a high-level delegation to Pakistan comprising security experts ahead of tours in 2004 and 2006. The Pakistan Cricket Board similarly sent a delegation to India ahead of tours in 2005, 2007 and 2012.

The Sri Lankan cricket team was promised presidential-level security ahead of a one-off T20 international in 2017. Similar security measures were put in place when Pakistan hosted a three-match T20 series against a World 11.

Leading teams in world cricket have stayed away from Pakistan ever since the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked outside the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in 2009.

The Pakistan Tennis Federation has proposed that the Davis Cup tie should be held at the National Sports Complex in Islamabad. Pakistan's last two ties against Uzbekistan and South Korea were played at the same stadium in 2018.

WION sought details of the proposed security arrangements from the Pakistan Tennis Federation but they too clammed up.

Bhupathi's letter has shaken up the tennis association and they now realise that all bases have not been covered. Relying on the security assessment of the international tennis federation alone may not convince the Indian government.

(Anas Mallick reported from Islamabad)

The Indian tennis team's proposed trip to Islamabad to play the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group 1 tie in September has run into rough weather. WION has exclusive details that non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi has expressed his reservations in a strongly worded letter to the All India Tennis Association (AITA).

The Indian tennis team's proposed trip to Islamabad to play the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group 1 tie in September has run into rough weather. WION has exclusive details that non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi has expressed his reservations in a strongly worded letter to the All India Tennis Association (AITA). In his letter, Bhupathi has asked AITA to provide the players and coaching staff details of the security arrangements being made for the tie. When contacted, Bhupathi declined to comment on the contents of the letter. But sources have revealed that the 12-time grand slam winner has informed AITA that a few players are unhappy about touring Pakistan. Bhupathi has made it clear that if required, the players would put the national interest ahead of their reservations and play the Davis Cup tie. But he has asked AITA to detail the security arrangements that have been put in place for the Indian team. This comes days after AITA secretary general Hironmoy Chatterjee made a massive announcement on Saturday. "Our team will be going to Pakistan for Davis Cup. We have got the invitation letters, now we will apply for visa. Team selection has not been done yet, it will start on August 5. Our team will go around September 10," Hironmoy Chatterjee said. Sources said that AITA wrote to Union Sports Ministry for clearance on May 21, but the ministry washed its hands off the matter saying its permission was not required. When it comes to touring Pakistan, the clearance of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is a must, said sources, adding that the MEA has not received any such request from AITA. The issue of players' security is vital, and that is precisely the reason why all tours of Pakistan have to be cleared by security agencies. The Indian cricket board sent a high-level delegation to Pakistan comprising security experts ahead of tours in 2004 and 2006. The Pakistan Cricket Board similarly sent a delegation to India ahead of tours in 2005, 2007 and 2012. The Sri Lankan cricket team was promised presidential-level security ahead of a one-off T20 international in 2017. Similar security measures were put in place when Pakistan hosted a three-match T20 series against a World 11. Leading teams in world cricket have stayed away from Pakistan ever since the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked outside the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in 2009. The Pakistan Tennis Federation has proposed that the Davis Cup tie should be held at the National Sports Complex in Islamabad. Pakistan's last two ties against Uzbekistan and South Korea were played at the same stadium in 2018. WION sought details of the proposed security arrangements from the Pakistan Tennis Federation but they too clammed up. Bhupathi's letter has shaken up the tennis association and they now realise that all bases have not been covered. Relying on the security assessment of the international tennis federation alone may not convince the Indian government. (Anas Mallick reported from Islamabad)

Indian tennis players jittery over Pakistan tour, captain Mahesh Bhupathi asks for details of security arrangement

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