Dialogue and Diplomacy… Will Rohit and Virat Kohli’s bat shine in Pakistan?

New Delhi. Will India send its team to the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan? This question has been circulating in the cricket world for a year. Anyone who understands India-Pakistan relations would have answered this question even a week ago – probably not. But a lot of things have happened in the past few days, due to which the answer is likely to be yes. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan, extension of Kartarpur Sahib Agreement by 5 years and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis on ‘dialogue and diplomacy’, is this an indication that India is now going to try ‘cricket diplomacy’.

Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar was recently in Pakistan. The occasion was the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Corporation) meeting. This was the first time in 10 years that an Indian Foreign Minister visited Pakistan. S. Jaishankar did participate in the SCO meeting. he/she also met Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. India and Pakistan, who usually use aggressive language against each other, welcomed each other this time and said positive things. Na S. Jaishankar did not take any direct aim nor did Shahbaz Sharif mention Kashmir in his/her speech.

S. When Jaishankar returned to Delhi from Islamabad, he/she tweeted and thanked Shahbaz Sharif for the hospitality. After Jaishankar’s return to India, it was told that ‘this was not just a conversation, but a lot more happened in that dining table conversation.’ Has there been any discussion on cricket also? Neither the Government of India nor Pakistan has denied this. Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif hints in this regard that one should not be surprised if cricket starts again between the two countries.

Nawaz Sharif said about Jaishankar’s visit, ‘The matter progresses like this. This should not end. It is good that Jaishankar came here. Now we must start from where we left it. Nawaz also mentioned India-Pakistan cricket. he/she said that there is no benefit to anyone by not sending teams to each other’s countries. If both the teams play in the final of a big tournament in the neighboring country then they would like to travel to India.

Those who keep an eye on cricket and politics know that cricket diplomacy has been happening between India and Pakistan in the past also. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had sent the Indian cricket team to Pakistan under this. he/she had asked captain Saurabh Ganguly to take care not only of cricket but also of India-Pakistan relations.

In these 10 days only S. Jaishankar himself has not shown leniency against Pakistan. Meanwhile, China agreed to withdraw its troops from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and new hope arose between the two countries. During these days the Kartarpur Agreement was extended for 5 years. Kartarpur Sahib located in Pakistan is a holy place of Sikhs. Thousands of Sikh pilgrims from India go to Pakistan every year through this corridor.

After the SCO meeting, withdrawal of Chinese troops from LAC, Kartarpur Sahib Agreement, the biggest statement came from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi mentioned the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars in the BRICS summit and said, ‘We support dialogue and diplomacy, not war.’
India has been very aggressive on Pakistan in the last few years. he/she clearly said that as long as there is a terrorism factory across the border, there will be no talks. Due to this attitude of India, Pakistan has remained isolated in the world to a great extent. Pressure has increased on Pakistan. For this reason also, the Pakistan government has been requesting India for talks. Cricket can also become a medium for this.

Next year Pakistan is going to host the ICC Champions Trophy. he/she is calling India ‘from the heart’. In 2011, when India hosted the ICC World Cup, the Prime Minister of Pakistan came to Chandigarh to watch the match. Obviously the governments of India and Pakistan find a way for dialogue through cricket also. Those who are looking for a solution to the problem through India-Pakistan cricket and dialogue are seeing a lot in these signs. Only time will tell what happens because it is also true that no one knows the next step of the Modi government. Still, there is hope that the bats of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be on fire in Pakistan next year.

tag: champions trophy, india vs pakistan, Narendra modi, PM Modi