KARACHI, Dec 31 Squads from Afghanistan, Cameroon, India, Kenya, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Vietnam landed here on Thursday for the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Boxing Championship being held here at the KPT Sports Complex Gymnasium from Jan 1 to 9.

Boxing teams from Yemen and Iraq are already in the city to participate in the event expected to feature around 20 teams from different countries.

Akram Khan, Secretary Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF), said squads from Bangladesh, China, Central Africa, Hungary, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Myanmar, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei and Thailand were expected to reach here Thursday night or would arrive on Friday.

According to the PBF, around 115 pugilists would be participating in the competition.

India sent its first sports team to Pakistan in more than a year on Thursday as a seven-member boxing team flew into Karachi to compete in an international tournament.

The boxers are the first Indian sports team to cross the border since India stalled sporting links with Pakistan after the November 2008 attacks on Mumbai.

Head coach of the Indian boxing squad, Shiv Singh, said the boxers were happy to tour Pakistan.

“We have been cleared by the government to take part in the event and all the members of the squad are very happy to be here [in Pakistan],” Singh told reporters after reaching Quaid-i-Azam International Airport here.

Mohammad Ali Shah, the Sindh Sports Minister, has promised foolproof security arrangements for the international event in the wake of a suicide attack that killed 43 people in the city on Monday.

Three Indian boxers - Sanjay Singh, Naresh Singh and Parnoj Singh - will compete in the international competition, expected to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Shiv said both India and Pakistan are doing well at an international level and need to compete against each other.

“Pakistan and India must compete against each other, more so that they can improve and win more laurels at the international level,” he said. “We have come here with good preparations and want to win.”

Shiv shrugged off security concerns, saying he has faith in the organisers. “We have no security concerns, the focus is on boxing and the rest is in the hands of our hosts.”—Agencies

Our Sports Reporter adds from Lahore

Tournament coordinator Iqbal Hussain and Akram Khan accorded warm welcome to squads from India and other countries that arrived in Karachi on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the PBF appointed four international referee judges from Pakistan to supervise the bouts. Thirteen other neutral referee judges from Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Laos, Mongolia, China, Iraq, Sri Lanka, India, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria will also supervise the fights.

Moreover, technical delegate Nieva Embuldeniya approved four local referee judges who are Olympian referee judges - Ghulam Hussain Patni, international Arshad Qureshi, international Mohammad Aslam and international S.M. Sharif.