Amid the ongoing row over Sunday’s India versus Pakistan cricket match in the Asia Cup, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) and former sports minister Anurag Thakur clarified that while India may face Pakistan in multinational tournaments, India’s stand on bilateral cricket ties remains unchanged.
However, he was firm about India’s long-standing position on bilateral series with Pakistan. (HT)
Thakur while speaking in Pune on Saturday said that India’s participation in such matches is a “compulsion” driven by tournament rules, not a shift in its diplomatic and national policies.
“When multinational tournaments are organised by Asian Cricket Council (ACC) or International Cricket Council (ICC), it becomes a compulsion, a necessity for nations to participate. If they don’t do that, they will be eliminated from the tournament, they will have to forfeit the match, and the other team will get the points,” said Thakur.
However, he was firm about India’s long-standing position on bilateral series with Pakistan.
“But India doesn’t play bilateral tournaments with Pakistan. We have made this decision for years that India won’t play bilateral tournaments with Pakistan until the country stops terrorist attacks on India,” he said.
Thakur’s clarification came amid calls from opposition parties, including AIMIM and Shiv Sena (UBT), among others, to cancel India’s match with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack.
Opposition parties have slammed the BJP and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the September 14 India-Pakistan Asia Cup cricket match.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray announced that his party will protest against the match on Sunday, adding, “blood and cricket cannot flow together”.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Congress on Friday called it an insult to the kin of those killed in the Pahalgam terror attack and soldiers who have been martyred in the line of duty.
The Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) said the government’s dual standards had been exposed after it allowed the match to proceed.
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a request to urgently list a plea seeking an interim stay on the cricket match between India and Pakistan, which is scheduled to take place in Dubai on September 14.
The two nations last met in a bilateral series in 2012/13. Since then, their encounters have been limited to global or continental competitions like the Asia Cup or the ODI and T20 World Cups. This latest clash comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions following Operation Sindoor.
“He has become leader of opposing Bharat”: Thakur on Gandhi skipping V-P oath ceremony
Pune: BJP MP Anurag Thakur on Saturday criticised Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, for skipping the oath-taking ceremony of Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan, saying he has become the “Leader of Opposing Bharat” and is “nowhere where he is needed”.
Speaking to reporters, Thakur said, “When the Parliament is in session, LoP doesn’t attend it. When Independence Day is celebrated, LoP doesn’t attend the celebrations at the Red Fort. LoP doesn’t attend the oath ceremony of the V-P-elect. The public didn’t make an LoP for the first 10 years. If he has become an LoP for the third time, he has become Leader of Opposing Bharat instead of Leader of Opposition…He is nowhere where he is needed. But Rahul Gandhi leads in opposing India.”
With agency inputs