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  • ‘Survive we will’: Dismay, renewed resolve on Twitter as England cancels Pakistan tour 


‘Survive we will’: Dismay, renewed resolve on Twitter as England cancels Pakistan tour 

A Pakistani security forces personnel is seen in the cricket stadium following the cancellation of cricket series between Pakistan and New Zealand, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on September 17, 2021. (AP)
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Updated 21 September 2021
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‘Survive we will’: Dismay, renewed resolve on Twitter as England cancels Pakistan tour 

  • ECB on Monday “reluctantly” decided to withdraw teams from October series in Pakistan
  • Cricket fans and commentators said all cricketing nations deserved a level-playing field 
Updated 21 September 2021
Sabah Bano Malik

ISLAMABAD: Cricketing officials, former and current players and fans have come out to express dismay after England announced it would not be coming to Pakistan for games scheduled for October, though many also took to social media to voice renewed faith that the Pakistan team would succeed in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Monday it had “reluctantly” decided to withdraw its men and women teams from coming to Pakistan. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja reacted by saying he was dismayed by England “failing” a member of the cricket fraternity. 

The news came just days after New Zealand Cricket said it was abandoning its series with Pakistan following a “security alert” by its government.

“Survive we will, in sha Allah,” the PCB chairman wrote on Twitter. “A wake-up call for Pakistan team to become the best team in the world for teams to line up to play them without making excuses.” 

Pakistani sports journalist Zainab Abbas said while the turn of events was extremely frustrating for all Pakistani fans, they should “utilize the opportunity to focus on playing the National T20 competitively and get some confidence before the World Cup.”

“This too shall pass,” she tweeted. 

“It’s time to win the World Cup, it’s time to have Pakistan’s biggest ever PSL [domestic super league] season at home, it’s time to react,” said Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Amir. “IT’S TIME TO ROAR.”

"So England also refuses. Its ok guys, see you all at the T20 World Cup. Specially @BLACKCAPS," former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said.

Officials and players also took to Twitter to comment on the need for all cricketing nations to get a level-playing field. South African cricketer Robin John Peterson said he felt deeply for the PCB, adding that new alliances would have to be formed if the game was to be "equitable and sustainable for all."

"It's a sad day for world cricket with England withdrawing from the tour of Pakistan. English concerns may be justified but the track record of Pakistan doesn't warrant these spate of developments," said Roshan Abeysinghe, a commentator from Sri Lanka. "From a world cricket point of view every nation deserves their share. Pakistan too," he added.

"You cannot claim to truly love cricket while ignoring these injustices towards Pakistan," sports journalist Roha Nadeem said. "You might love your team or a league or a player, but you certainly do not love the sport. Because if you did, this would hurt you too."

"Pakistan players have done enough, they have stood by all decisions for the betterment of Pakistan cricket," said Rehanul Haq, the general manager of the Pakistan Super League franchise Islamabad United. "Time to back them and not add any pressure on them."

Sports journalist Faizan Lakhani said Pakistan toured England in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, not once but twice. "It toured New Zealand in most difficult and challenging conditions, all to support global cricket," he tweeted. "Both have let down Pakistan. This is sad. Pakistan’s cricket fraternity has every right to feel betrayed."

Popular Pakistani cricket commentary website Change of Pace tweeted: "Pakistan cricket will not forget.”

Topics: Pakistan Cricket

Pakistan says multilateralism in peril, urges global powers to prioritize diplomacy over confrontation

Updated 8 sec ago
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Pakistan says multilateralism in peril, urges global powers to prioritize diplomacy over confrontation

  • The country tells the UN international security system is eroding, asks rival blocs to return to dialogue
  • It emphasizes lowering of international tensions, rebuilding of channels of communication among states
Updated 8 sec ago
UROOSA JADOON

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan warned the world community on Monday that multilateralism was “in peril” amid rising global tensions, urging major powers to revive diplomacy and dialogue to prevent a further breakdown in international security.

Speaking at a UN Security Council briefing, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said the world was drifting toward confrontation at a time when cooperative mechanisms were weakening.

His comments came during a session addressed by Finland’s foreign minister Elina Valtonen, chairing the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the world’s largest regional security body.

Formed out of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, the OSCE was designed during the Cold War to reduce tensions, uphold principles of sovereignty and human rights and promote mechanisms for peaceful dispute resolution.

“Today, the foundational ethos of international relations, multilateralism, cooperation and indivisible security, as envisaged in the preamble of Helsinki Final Act, is perhaps facing its biggest challenge in decades,” Ahmed said. “The OSCE, too, is navigating a difficult geopolitical landscape, with conflict raging in the heart of Europe for nearly four years, depletion of trust and unprecedented strains on peaceful co-existence.”

He said a return to the “Helsinki spirit” of dialogue, confidence-building and cooperative security was urgently needed, not only in Europe but globally.

“This is not a matter of choice but a strategic imperative to lower tensions, rebuild essential channels of communication, and demonstrate that comprehensive security is best preserved through cooperative instruments, and not by the pursuit of hegemony and domination through military means,” he said. “Objective, inclusive, impartial, and principle-based approaches are indispensable for success.”

Ahmed’s statement came in a year when Pakistan itself fought a brief but intense war after India launched missile strikes at its city in May following a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for the assault, an allegation Islamabad denied while calling for a transparent international investigation.

The Pakistani diplomat said the international system was increasingly defined by bloc politics, mistrust and militarization, warning that such trends undermine both regional stability and the authority of multilateral institutions, including the UN itself.

He urged member states to invest more in preventive diplomacy and the peaceful settlement of disputes as reaffirmed by the Council in Resolution 2788.

Ahmad said Pakistan hoped the OSCE would continue reinforcing models of cooperative security and that the Security Council would back partnerships that strengthen international law and the credibility of multilateral frameworks.

The path forward, he added, required “choosing cooperation over confrontation, dialogue over division, and inclusive security over bloc-based divides.”

Topics: Pakistan in United Nations Asim Iftikhar Ahmad

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