NEW DELHI, March 16: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Tuesday the high-drama cricket series between India and Pakistan can help end decades of hostility just as ping-pong did between China and the United States.

"It's fascinating what sports can do. I can take you to 30 or more years back when a ping-pong match between the US and China led to a discussion which resulted in the kind of relationship we have with China today," Mr Powell told state-owned Doordarshan television during a visit to India.

The comments came as hosts Pakistan defeated India runs in the second one-day international in Rawalpindi. Frosty Sino-US relations saw an upturn in 1971 when communist China's founder Mao Zedong invited the US team for a table tennis tournament between the two countries, which did not have diplomatic relations.

The "ping-pong diplomacy" paved the way for Mr Nixon's breakthrough visit to China a year later. "When people can come together and travel to each other's countries to watch a conflict being played out on the field of sport as opposed to the field of battle and you see the people appreciate the other side, their talent, then why can't the same philosophy and spirit impact other aspects and normalize the relations?" Mr Powell said.

"And let that be a hope. Let cricket influence the composite dialogue between the two countries," Mr Powell said. The Indians will be touring Pakistan for the next month playing four more one-day internationals and three Test matches. -AFP

Pakistan beat India