Dubai: Cricket tensions between India and Pakistan have been heightened by boycott calls in India ahead of their T20 World Cup clash on Sunday.
A series of killings in the disputed Kashmir region has set off the anger, even though the Indian board has insisted the national team cannot withdraw from the game.
Decades of bitter rivalry between the neighbors often clouds their cricket encounters. India has largely refused to play bilateral games against Pakistan since 2008, after deadly attacks in Mumbai which India blamed on Pakistan.
Now they only play each other in international events. The last meeting was at the 50-over World Cup two years ago but even that was at the center of boycott calls.
The killings of 11 migrant workers and minority Hindus and Sikhs in Indian-administered Kashmir have led to the latest demands made in India, which frequently accuses Pakistan of backing Kashmir militant groups. The hashtag #BlacklistPakistan was trending on Twitter Wednesday.
Rajeev Shukla, the Board of Control for Cricket in India vice president, said earlier that the country had a contractual obligation to take part.
“We strongly condemns the killings. However, under the International Cricket Council’s commitments, you can’t refuse to play any one (game),” Shukla told Indian media.
A cabinet minister, Giriraj Singh, had also urged the government to consider intervening to stop the match.
“I think if relations are not good, then this should be reconsidered,” Singh said when questioned about the match. Other politicians have also joined the calls.
However, India’s badminton great Prakash Padukone said, “sports and politics should not be mixed and according to me it (the India-Pakistan match) should go on.”
India was also urged to boycott the 2019 World Cup game against Pakistan because of a Kashmir suicide bomber attack in February of that year in which more than 40 troops were killed.
Pakistan denied any role in the assault but the two countries came to the brink of war. India won the game which went ahead in June 2019.
India and Pakistan last played a bilateral series in 2013 during a brief thaw in their rivalry.
The two countries have fought two wars over Kashmir — divided between the two nations — since their independence in 1947.
Boycott calls add to India-Pakistan cricket tensions ahead of World Cup clash in Dubai
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Boycott calls add to India-Pakistan cricket tensions ahead of World Cup clash in Dubai
- India has largely refused to play bilateral games against Pakistan since 2008, after deadly attacks in Mumbai which it blamed on Pakistan
- Indian atheletes say ‘sports and politics should not be mixed’ and the World Cup match between the two countries should go on
Bodies of Pakistani nationals who died attempting illegal migration repatriated from Iran
- Pakistan’s envoy in Tehran warns youth against human smugglers after deaths in harsh weather
- Pakistan reported sharp fall in illegal migration to Europe this year amid nationwide crackdown
ISLAMABAD: The bodies of two Pakistani nationals, who died near the Iran-Türkiye border after attempting to travel illegally to Europe, have been repatriated to the country, said a senior diplomat on Tuesday, reiterating warnings against human smugglers amid an intensified crackdown by authorities in Islamabad on illegal migration.
Pakistan says it has stepped up action against illegal immigration and human trafficking in recent years, reporting a 47% drop in illegal migration to Europe this year and the arrest of more than 1,700 suspected human smugglers, according to official figures.
However, people continue to attempt dangerous irregular journeys in search of work and better economic opportunities abroad.
“The mortal remains of Pakistani nationals Mr. Armanullah s/o Gul Rahman and Mr. Ihtasham s/o Mukhtar Gul, both residents of Nowshera, have been repatriated to Pakistan through Taftan border earlier today,” Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran, Muhammad Mudassir Tipu, said in a post on social media platform X. “Both had fallen victim to the greed of human smugglers and lost their lives in extremely harsh weather conditions near Iran’s border with Turkiye.”
“I once again request the youth back home not to be trapped by human smugglers and instead follow the legal path to travel abroad,” he added, thanking the government of the Balochistan province in Pakistan for arranging the transportation of the bodies and offering condolences to the victims’ families.
The issue illegal immigration has drawn heightened scrutiny since 2023, when hundreds of people, including Pakistani nationals, died attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in an overcrowded vessel that sank off the Greek coast, prompting Islamabad to launch nationwide investigations into human smuggling and trafficking networks.
Authorities have since arrested Pakistani and foreign nationals at airports with forged travel documents, highlighting the scale of document fraud linked to illegal departures.
In September, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) released a list of more than 100 of Pakistan’s “most wanted” human smugglers and identified major trafficking hubs across Punjab province and the capital, Islamabad.
Earlier this month, Pakistan announced plans to roll out an artificial intelligence-based immigration screening system at Islamabad airport from January, aimed at detecting forged documents and preventing illegal travel abroad, as part of broader efforts to curb human smuggling and unauthorized migration.
