Taking a strong stance against cross-border terrorism, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that there would be no cricket ties between India and Pakistan as long as the latter continued to sponsor terrorism against India. The comments come on the heels of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) decision to not send the Indian cricket team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023.
“Tournaments keep coming and you are aware of the government's stand. Let's see what happens. It is a complicated issue. Will you talk to me if I put a gun on your head? If your neighbour aids terrorism out in the open and there is no mystery about who the leaders are, where the camps are. We should never think that cross-border terrorism is normal. Give me another example where one neighbour is sponsoring terrorism against another. There is no such example. In a way, this is not even abnormal, but exceptional,” Jaishankar said at Agenda Aaj Tak.
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BCCI President Jay Shah had earlier said that the Asia Cup should be held at a neutral venue. In response, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief, Ramiz Raja, said that the Pakistani side would consider pulling out of the tournament if its hosting rights were withdrawn on account of India’s refusal to travel to the country. Raja also added that if India opted out of the tournament, then Pakistan would opt out of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 which is going to be held in India.
Cricket matches between the two sides are some of the most-watched sports events in the world. The first cricket match between the two countries happened in 1952. Though cricket diplomacy, as it began to be called, fell apart quickly before the start of the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war. It was years after the culmination of the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War that bilateral cricket ties resumed.
The Kargil conflict put a pause on that. After the spate of terror strikes in India in the late 2000s and early 2010s, India once again put a halt to bilateral cricket between the two countries. The last bilateral series between the neighbours was in 2012. The refusal to engage in bilateral cricket is part of India’s effort to put international diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terror groups.
"We should never accept that a country has the right to sponsor terror. Unless we don't delegitimise this, it will continue. So, there should be global pressure on Pakistan. The pressure won't come unless the victims of terror don't voice themselves. India should, in a way, lead the way because our blood is spilt,” Jaishankar explained.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
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