Asia Cup in limbo after India-Pakistan conflict

Pakistan and Indian fans wave their national flags during the ICC men's Twenty20 World Cup 2022 cricket match between India and Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne on October 23, 2022. (AFP/File)
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Updated 03 June 2025
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Asia Cup in limbo after India-Pakistan conflict

  • India are scheduled to host T20 Asia Cup tournament in September this year
  • Strained ties worsened after intense fighting between India, Pakistan in May

NEW DELHI, India: This year’s Asia Cup hangs in the balance following the recent clashes between tournament hosts India and arch-rivals Pakistan.

Already-soured relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors further worsened after four days of intense fighting before a ceasefire was announced last month.

India are scheduled to host the Asia Cup, a flagship event of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), in September but uncertainty lingers over the T20 tournament.

“To be honest, we have had no discussions within the board about the Asia Cup,” a top official of the Indian cricket board (BCCI) told Reuters on Tuesday, refusing to confirm whether the tournament will go ahead as scheduled.

“We have been busy with the Indian Premier League and then we have India’s tour of England. These are our immediate concerns,” he added.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was not forthcoming about its team’s participation in the tournament in India either.

“We will cross that bridge when we come to it,” the PCB told Reuters in a statement.

ACC president Mohsin Naqvi, who also heads the PCB, was not available to comment.

The ACC on Monday announced the postponement of the women’s Emerging Asia Cup, which was due to begin on Friday, citing weather conditions and the spread of the viral disease chikungunya in host nation Sri Lanka.

India will host the women’s 50-overs World this year but Pakistan will play all their matches in Sri Lanka under an arrangement made by the International Cricket Council.

India refused to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy this year and played all their matches, including the March 9 final, in Dubai.

Bilateral cricket has been suspended since 2013 between the Asian neighbors, who play each other only in multi-team events.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir is against playing Pakistan even in neutral venues but will follow whatever the BCCI decided, he said last month.


Pakistan lauds female polio workers as push to end virus intensifies

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Pakistan lauds female polio workers as push to end virus intensifies

  • Acknowledgement comes as Pakistan marks annual campaign promoting women’s rights and safety
  • Ayesha Raza Farooq says the real strength of the polio program is its female workers and their bravery

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top polio official on Tuesday praised the country’s female vaccination workers for their “extraordinary contribution” to the eradication drive, saying their efforts were central to ending the virus as Pakistan marked the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, an annual campaign to promote women’s rights and safety.

Female health workers administer the majority of polio drops in Pakistan, going door to door in remote, high-risk and conservative communities where women are best positioned to gain access to children.

Pakistan is one of only two countries in the world, alongside neighboring Afghanistan, where wild poliovirus remains endemic. The country has so far reported 30 cases this year.

“What you do is extraordinary, and your courage in all circumstances is the reason Pakistan will soon be polio-free,” said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s focal person on polio eradication, during a meeting with frontline workers in Islamabad.

“Pakistan’s real strength in this program is its female polio workers,” she added.

Farooq said she had listened to the concerns of field teams and assured them of full government support.

She maintained that female vaccinators had shown “remarkable bravery” despite difficult terrain, security concerns and community resistance in some areas.

In October, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) named Farooq Pakistan’s first gender champion for her leadership in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in public health and in the eradication effort.

Pakistan is scheduled to kick off the last nationwide anti-polio vaccination drive of 2025, according to the National Emergencies Operation Center (NEOC), with an aim to inoculate 45 million children.

The NEOC has also urged parents to coordinate with health workers during the campaign.