Such a treaty is sine qua non as sports personalities are becoming increasingly exposed to terrorism said Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) in particular has a responsibility to work out a mechanism to ensure the safety of international cricketers as they are constantly on the move, reported Daily Mirror quoting the Minister.

The Lahore attack is an eye opener for the international community to make a concerted effort to rid the world of terrorism.

“Sport is a global culture. Thousands of sports personalities embark on international travel daily. Nobody is much concerned about their safety despite terrorists being at work all the time. Sri Lanka will campaign in the world and regional forums to convince the international community that the time is right for a collective agreement to fight terrorism and provide adequate safety for sports personalities,” he said.

Justifying the Government’s approval to embark on the Pakistan cricket tour while almost all other cricketing nations refused to travel to that country, Minister Yapa said it was a gesture that spoke of the long standing friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

“Do not forget that Pakistan together with India came to the rescue of Sri Lanka when other countries cancelled their tours to Sri Lanka over security concerns during the 1996 Cricket World Cup. We expressed our gratitude to Pakistan by sending our cricket team,” he said.

We did not think about the internal problems of Pakistan when we approved the tour. We considered only the long standing ties between the two countries, he added.

Minister Yapa admitted there had been some security lapses on the part of Pakistan’s security establishments.

“We were told that our cricketers will be afforded VVIP security similar to that given to the President and the Prime Minister. But this has not happened. Our cricketers would have not been injured if they were provided bullet-proof vehicles,” he said.