NEW DELHI – Border tensions between India and Pakistan are casting a cloudover this year’s cricket World Cup with the threat of a boycott hangingover their highly-anticipated clash in England, AFP reported on Thursday.

There have been calls for India to forfeit their June 16 match againstPakistan after a suicide bomb attack in Indian Occupied Kashmir in which 40Indian troops died.

An aerial dogfight followed between the nuclear-armed neighbors, ignitingfears of an all-out conflict, but the crisis appeared to ease when Pakistanreturned an Indian pilot who was shot down and captured.

But doubts remain over the fate of the group stage match in Manchester.

The ball rests firmly with India’s politicians, who are not likely to makeany decision until nearer the match, after cricketers and sports officialssaid they will abide by any government call for a boycott.

Vinod Rai, a senior official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI), told reporters after the Occupied Kashmir attack that they hadwritten to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to demand tough securityat the World Cup, which begins in England and Wales on May 30.

Rai confirmed a boycott decision would only be made at a later date — andafter consulting the government.

India captain Virat Kohli said the players would respect any instructionfrom the government or board.

“Our stand is simple: we stick by what the nation wants to do and what theBCCI decides to do,” Kohli told reporters.

“That is basically our opinion. Whatever the government and the boarddecide, we will go by that and we will respect that.”