Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has blamed India for putting pressure on Bangladesh to not tour Pakistan for two Tests and three T20Is, scheduled in January-February.
Bangladesh was ready to send its cricket team to Pakistan but did otherwise because of Indian pressure, Qureshi was quoted by Dawn as saying.
The Pakistan minister made the remarks at a media briefing in Multan on Sunday (Dec 30), reports Dawn.
A leader of Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Qureshi is known for his strong anti-Indian stands.
Qureshi said, "Bangladesh should take its decisions independently. It can maintain its relations with India, but not at the cost of international sport.”
Test cricket returned to Pakistan after a decade with a two-test series against Sri Lanka earlier this month.
Rawalpindi and Karachi hosted Pakistan's first tests on home soil since a militant attack on Sri Lanka's team bus in Lahore in 2009.
The Marylebone Cricket Club would send a squad to Pakistan in February next year to play in a few matches under the captaincy of its current president Kumar Sangakkara.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) insists that they will send the team for Twenty20 Internationals but the test series must take place in a neutral venue as they remain wary of touring Pakistan for a lengthy period.
Qureshi, however, thanked Sri Lankan for touring Pakistan and wished that Bangladesh would visit his country.