New Delhi: A seven-member sporting team from Pakistan arrived in India on Monday, March 15, to participate in qualifying matches for the International Tent-Pegging Federation World Cup Championship. This is one of the first major outcomes since India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire agreement on February 25 to ease tensions on the border, according to an Indian Express report.Due to border skirmishes in the past few years, prior to the truce agreement, India and Pakistan had hostile relations, bringing to a halt every form of exchange and association. The last Pakistan sporting team visited India was in February 2020 to take part in Asian Championship in New Delhi, comprising a five-member squad with three wrestlers included.The other participating nations in the qualifying matches, apart from hosts India and Pakistan, are Russia, United States, Belarus, Nepal and Bahrain. Out of the seven teams, the top two sides will qualify for the World Cup scheduled in South Africa in 2023. The qualifying matches, jointly organised by the Indian Army-run Equestrian Foundation of India and a private company called Equiwing Sports, kicked off on Tuesday, March 16, in Noida.Also read: For First Time in 18 Years, India, Pakistan Agree to ‘Strictly’ Observe LoC CeasefireOn Tuesday, Indian won gold in the Team Lance competition with 126.5 points on the first day of the International Tent Pegging Federation, while Pakistan and Nepal clinched silver with 124 points and Nepal the bronze medal with 121 points. The Indian team comprised Dinesh G. Karlekar, B.R. Jena, Mohit Kumar and Sandeep Kumar, The Times of India reported.In the Individual Lance competition, Muhammad Imtiaz of Pakistan bagged the gold medal with 42 points. Kepil from Nepal clinched silver with 38 points, and Jena of India with 34.5 points won a bronze medal.The organisers said it had been difficult to secure visas for the Pakistani players, and they had come through only in the last 20 days, Brijesh Mathur, president of the organising committee said.Amer Munawar, secretary general of the Pakistani team, said he had not expected to make it to the event. “The visas came after a long wait. I thought we would not be able to come. But we made it,” Munawar was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.He recalled that the last time he had come to India was in 2011 as the captain of the team, and the first time he arrived in India was in 1999 to participate in a sporting event in Hyderabad, and he was the youngest member of the team.“I believe in the ceasefire, I believe in peace. We are sportspeople. We have got friends here. Our Indian brothers, I want to call them brothers, they are taking such good care of us here,” he added.The Pakistan Equestrian Federation is run by the Punjab Rangers, a paramilitary force that guards the International Border with India. The team members are all civilians.Besides being the host, India along with Pakistan, United States, Belarus and Nepal are competing to be in the top two positions from the Group B of the qualifier round. The top two teams will play in the world cup to be held in South Africa in 2023.For the first time in recent times, India’s Ministry of Defence and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations have issued a joint statement on February 25 after the talks between the director-general of military operations (DGMOs) held a discussion over their hotline.“Both sides agreed for strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the Line of Control and all other sectors with effect from midnight 24/25 February 2021,” the joint statement had said.According to Indian government figures, there were 5,133 instances of ceasefire violations along LoC last year, with 46 fatalities. This was a large number recorded in a year since 2003 and marked a big jump from 3,479 instances of violations in 2013. In 2021, there were 299 violations with one fatality till early February.No incidents of cross LoC or cross border firing have taken place since the agreement took effect on February 25.