Pakistan today said it will go ahead with the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games as scheduled despite non-participation by key member India.“Irrespective of any country’s participation in the event, the Games will go ahead as planned,” SAF technical director Col Yahya said reacting to reports of India’s boycott of the Games on security grounds.However, Pakistan was yet to receive an official intimation from the Indian Olympic Assocaition regarding their pull-out from the regional competitions.“The Pakistan Olympic Association officials are in constant touch with their Indian counterparts. POA secretary Latif Bhutt spoke to IOA president Suresh Kalamadi on Friday. Bhutt has been told that the IOA is waiting for a decision from the Indian government,” Yahya said.“When we get their final response we could be in a position to say something about their participation,” he said while maintaining that the Games will be held irrespective of non-particiaption of any of the seven SAARC member countries.The Games will begin here on March 29.If India decides to boycott, speculation was rife that Bhutan too would stay away. However, the rest of the countries, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and Nepal, were expected to participate in the Games.Recently Afghanistan too was invited to take part in the Games.
