Pakistan's truce violations don't set tone for cricket, says Sushma Swaraj
TNN|
Jan 01, 2018, 11.16 AM IST
The prospects of a cricket series between India and Pakistan, even at a neutral venue, are dim with the government taking the view that a high incidence of cross-border firing violations by Pakistan do not provide a conducive atmosphere for the sporting exchange.
Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj indicated the government's thinking at a meeting of the consultative committee attached to the ministry that offered a review of relations with neighbours. Foreign secretary S Jaishankar was also present at the meeting.
Responding to a query whether restarting the long suspended cricket exchange could be an option for easing tensions between the two countries, Swaraj said there had been suggestions on humanitarian lines such as release of women and elderly detainees and prisoners. However, the high number of cross-border firings did not set the tone for engagements such as a cricket series.
The India-Pakistan cricket fixture has been off the international calendar for a while now and the poor state of bilateral ties do not seem to allow a change in stance as yet though the two nations continue to compete in international competitions where the teams play one another.
Pakistan has visited India twice without India playing the reciprocal series. In normal course, India and Pakistan would play at least one bilateral series and also smaller limited format engagements in case of smaller windows being available.
Swaraj is understood to have pointed out that there were over 800 cross-border violations this year. Though violence in Jammu and Kashmir has come down after the high it registered after security forces shot dead Hizbul leader Burhan Wani in 2016, relations remain unsettled.
The recent bad blood over the visit of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife and mother has only soured ties further. The two women who met Jadhav in the Pakistan foreign ministry office in Islamabad were treated in an insulting manner, being asked to remove their mangalsutras, bindis and bangles and also change their clothes. The meeting was closely controlled with Jadhav mouthing tutored lines of his alleged complicity in terror activities in Pakistan and his mother prevented from conversing with him in their native Marathi.
Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj indicated the government's thinking at a meeting of the consultative committee attached to the ministry that offered a review of relations with neighbours. Foreign secretary S Jaishankar was also present at the meeting.
Responding to a query whether restarting the long suspended cricket exchange could be an option for easing tensions between the two countries, Swaraj said there had been suggestions on humanitarian lines such as release of women and elderly detainees and prisoners. However, the high number of cross-border firings did not set the tone for engagements such as a cricket series.
The India-Pakistan cricket fixture has been off the international calendar for a while now and the poor state of bilateral ties do not seem to allow a change in stance as yet though the two nations continue to compete in international competitions where the teams play one another.
Pakistan has visited India twice without India playing the reciprocal series. In normal course, India and Pakistan would play at least one bilateral series and also smaller limited format engagements in case of smaller windows being available.
Swaraj is understood to have pointed out that there were over 800 cross-border violations this year. Though violence in Jammu and Kashmir has come down after the high it registered after security forces shot dead Hizbul leader Burhan Wani in 2016, relations remain unsettled.
The recent bad blood over the visit of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife and mother has only soured ties further. The two women who met Jadhav in the Pakistan foreign ministry office in Islamabad were treated in an insulting manner, being asked to remove their mangalsutras, bindis and bangles and also change their clothes. The meeting was closely controlled with Jadhav mouthing tutored lines of his alleged complicity in terror activities in Pakistan and his mother prevented from conversing with him in their native Marathi.
(This article was originally published in The Times of India)
