The Home Ministry on Tuesday cleared the Pakistan cricket team's tour of India for a limited-over series, beginning December 25, saying the government will provide foolproof security to the visiting team.
This was conveyed to a delegation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India when it met Union Home secretary R K Singh in Delhi on Tuesday, official sources said.
BCCI senior official and Union minister Rajiv Shukla said the BCCI delegation discussed security and logistical issues.
"We have discussed all security aspects. The tour is on," he told reporters.
Apart from security issues, the Home Ministry will also give visa clearance to Pakistani spectators.
Several top Pakistani dignitaries are expected to visit India to watch the matches.
The series will comprise three ODIs and two Twenty20 Internationals between December 2012 and January 2013.
The ODI matches are likely to be played in Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi, and the Twenty20 games in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
In July, the BCCI decided to resume cricketing ties with Pakistan by inviting it for a short series, in December 2012-January 2013, to be sandwiched between the Test and ODI legs of the England team's tour of India.
The arch-rivals have not played a bilateral series since Pakistan's tour of India in 2007 after cricket ties were snapped following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his then Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani had watched the high-profile World Cup semi-final in Mohali last year.
