A week before the championship was scheduled to begin, the BCCI announced that India would not participate in the tournament. This decision was reported to have been taken by Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other government ministers after a meeting with the BCCI. It was widely understood that India's withdrawal was due to political tensions between India and Pakistan. Indian sports minister Uma Bharti stated that cricketing ties between the two countries would resume after the normalization of their political ties. Indian players' security and safety in Pakistan was also noted to be a major concern.