CHANDIGARH: The first edition in Pakistan of the India-Pakistan Punjab Games due next month are likely to be postponed following the devastation caused by the Oct 8 quake in that country.
The Pakistani edition had been set for Dec 21-27 and preparations were in full swing on both sides of the border.
Sources in Lahore, quoting senior sports officials of Pakistan Punjab, told IANS: "Since the earthquake had been declared a national tragedy in Pakistan, the games cannot be held with the fanfare that the Pakistan Punjab government wanted it to be. Without it, the games would become lacklustre."
The sources said the games could be postponed officially in the next few days once a formal meeting of the organising committee is held after the Eid festival (Nov 4) there.
Pakistan Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi is likely to speak to Amarinder Singh, chief minister of Indian Punjab, after Eid to convey that the games be postponed for some time.
The chief ministers of both the Punjabs would work out suitable dates for holding the event later.
Sports officials in Indian Punjab said they had no idea about a postponement and their own selections and trials were in full swing.
The first Indian edition of the games, called the East-West Punjab Games, was held at Patiala city in Indian Punjab in December last year.
The Indian side had announced a 350-member delegation of sportspersons to participate in the games to be held at Lahore and other cities of Pakistan Punjab.
Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Indian Punjab`s chief parliamentary secretary for sports, had gone to Lahore in October to finalise dates and arrangements for the event.
Pervaiz Elahi, it is learnt, was keen to make the Pakistan edition of the games a grand affair and also throw in a lot of cultural events. But following the quake devastation, he would not be able to hold a grand event, though Pakistan Punjab was not affected much.
Elahi had planned an elaborate affair in response to the tremendous bonhomie he had witnessed during the Indian edition of the games last year. He had declared the games open at Patiala - a rare occasion in India for a top Pakistani political leader.
Elahi and Amarinder Singh have hit it off well with each other since early 2004.
In case the games are postponed, sports officials here say, it would involve a lot of modalities to be worked out for fresh dates. They would have to ensure that the new dates do not clash with other domestic and international sports events in the two countries since many of the players would be required for those events as well.
However, in Lahore and other places, preparations for the December event are in full swing.
Players are undergoing trials, renovation of sports complexes is being carried out, the budget for the games has been released and committees involved with the organisation have been nominated.
Pakistan had also agreed to issue nearly 7,500 visas to visiting Indians from Punjab for the games. | 
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