President Mahinda Rajapaksa stated this here Tuesday to Pakistani minister Ahsan Iqbal, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.

 

 Rajapaksa said a Sri Lankan team will soon play in Pakistan.

 

 Sri Lanka stopped sending its cricket team to Pakistan after the March 2009 terror attack on its squad in Lahore that injured six of its players and left six Pakistani policemen and two civilians dead.

 

 The minister highlighted the significance of sporting ties in bringing the people of South Asia together. 

 

 Rajapaksa also said that relations with Pakistan "have stood the test of time", APP reported.

 

 The Pakistani minister said both countries should take bilateral trade from the present $400 million to over $1 billion.

 

 –Indo-Asian News Service