India Cancels Volleyball Trip to Pakistan After Pahalgam Attack

India won’t be heading to Islamabad for the Central Asian Volleyball Championship after all. The Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) confirmed that India withdrew, citing the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam as the reason.

Back in April, a tragic incident in Pahalgam, India, claimed the lives of 26 tourists, leading to a significant strain on relations between India and Pakistan.

Initially, India had planned to send a large delegation of 30 people, including 22 players, to the tournament which was set to start on May 28th.

Abdul Ahad, a representative from the PVF, shared that the Indian Volleyball officials received word from their government that the necessary clearance (NOC) for the tournament had been revoked following the Pahalgam attack.

This unfortunate turn of events means that India will be replaced in the tournament by either Afghanistan or Sri Lanka. The championship will still go ahead with teams from Iran, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.