ISLAMABAD – Pakistan is likely to adopt a strong stance at the AsianCricket Council meeting in Kuala Lumpur this week and will insist onhosting the Asian Emerging Nations Cup tournament this year.

According to a senior official of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Pakistan willmake it clear at the meeting that if India can’t come to Pakistan to playin the Emerging Nations Cup than Pakistan will also not be able to send itsteam for the Asia Cup in September in India.

The PCB link> will try to convince themember boards to move the Asia Cup out of India to a third country likeMalaysia or even Sri Lanka so that Pakistan can participate in it, theofficial said.

PCB link> Chairman, Najam Sethi, and chiefoperating officer, Subhan Ahmad are due to fly out for Kuala Lumpur whereSethi will chair the meeting as ACC President.

Another official source said that Sethi had decided to adopt a strongstance with India which will be represented at the meeting on Monday andTuesday.

PCB link> is not happy over India’sattempts to move the Asian Emerging Nations Cup out of Pakistan on securitygrounds. It will adopt a tit for tat policy by insisting it can’t send itsteam to India for the Asia Cup in the current scenario, the sourceconfirmed.

The ACC meeting will finalise dates for the two tournaments and the Asiaunder-19 Cup to be held this year.

Pakistan had got hosting rights for the Asian Emerging Nations Cup when anACC meeting was held in Lahore last October but delegates from India didn’tcome for the meeting.

Later India said it will not send team to Lahore for the Emerging NationsCup due to security concerns.

But now after successfully hosting the two PSL playoffs in Lahore and thefinal in Karachi and then the bilateral T20 series against the West Indies,the PCB link> believes that India has nogrounds to resist having the Asian Emerging Nations Cup in Lahore, thesource said.

Relations between Pakistan and India are at their lowest ebb and the Indianboard has steadfastly refused to entertain any full bilateral series withPakistan since 2008.

Sethi has said he will be holding discussions with other boards at the ICCmeeting in Kolkata from April 22 to convince them to send their teams toPakistan for bilateral series.

The Pakistan and Indian boards are also locked in a compensation casebefore the ICC disputes resolution committee with thePCBlink> demanding that the BCCIlink> pays them a compensation of around$70 million for rejecting an

MOU signed between the two boards in 2014 under which Pakistan and Indiawere to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023.