There was talk of India possibly travelling to Pakistan after a recent meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting at Islamabad.
India wouldn’t be travelling to Pakistan for next year’s Champions Trophy cricket tournament. The Indian cricket board, in a recent communication to the Pakistan Cricket Board, have cited security concerns for their decision and expressed their desire to play all their games in Dubai.
“This has been our stance and there is no reason to change that. We have written to them and asked them to shift our games to Dubai,” a source in the know said.
Top eight teams of the world are to take part in the February 19 to March 9 50-overs ICC event that has Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi as host cities. Those in the know say that the BCCI continued to stick to its stand over Pakistan “in consultation with the government”. Last year before the Asia Cup, India, despite the pressure from hosts Pakistan, had managed to shift its matches to Sri Lanka.
This comes after hopes were raised about cricket normalcy returning to the region following last month’s meeting between India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting at Islamabad.
This was the first direct conversation of this level since 2015 between nations with an acrimonious past. In the aftermath of this cordial meeting, thaw seemed to be on cards and resumption of cricket ties were speculated. It was said that Pakistan’s Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi, who is also PCB Chairman, was also in loop. Whispers for India traveling to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy were heard in the diplomatic corridors.
Even the PCB was bending backwards to convince India to make the trip across the border. The Pakistan board had given the BCCI the option of their team returning to India after every game. Nothing seems to have worked as in the coming days the two boards will once again resume their tug of war.
Of late Pakistan has hosted international teams like England and Bangladesh. The last time India toured Pakistan was in 2006 when the Rahul Dravid team had won the 5 match ODI series 4-1.
