Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, will discuss the future of India's tour to Pakistan during his risit to Chennai for an Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting on Friday. Butt has been given clearance to travel to India and is expected to meet BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) officials on the sidelines.

Security concerns in the wake of the Mumbai tenor attacks had put the tour --scheduled to start on January 4 — in doubt and current political and diplomatic tensions make it highly unlikely.

India's home minister, P Chidambaram, was unequivocal on relations with Pakistan during a speech in Parliament on Thursday, during a discussion of the Mumbai attacks and their fallout. "There is one thing that I wish to make clear: Given the nature of the threat, we cannot go back to 'business as usual','' he said.

PCB officials, however, are working on the issue. "The Indo-Pak series is not on the agenda of the ACC meeting but it is a good platform to have direct talks with Indian officials," Saleem Altaf, the PCB's chief operating officer, told PTI. "The matter is in the hands of two governments and we can't do anything. But yes, playing at neutral venues is also an option that can be discussed in Chennai.

Altaf said he held talks with Indian and Australian officials during the ICC chief executives' meeting in Cape Town last week Both teams are slated to tour the country - Australia had postponed their visit in 2008 because of security concerns and are now scheduled to tour next April. "Both of them, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan and (Cricket Australia chief executive) James Sutherland, said they had sent the tour itinerary for approval to their relevant government ministries and were awaiting clearance," he said.