Diplomacy zig-zags across Pakistan’s path to World Cup

A high-level committee, headed by Foreign Minister and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has been set up to determine whether Pakistan will travel to India for the One Day International World Cup in Oct this year.

Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Ehsanur Rehman Mazari confirmed the development, which comes in response to a letter by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sent to the prime minister and the interior and foreign ministries earlier this week asking for formal permission to take part in the tournament.

The members of the committee include federal ministers Rana Sanaullah, Azam Nazir Tarar, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Asad Mahmood, Aminul Haque and Qamar Zaman Kaira.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a committee to be headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Tariq Fatemi will be the committee coordinator, which will deliberate on the issue and submit its recommendations,” Mazari confirmed to The Express Tribune.

The foreign secretary and national security institutions’ representatives are also part of the high-profile committee, which will be responsible for overseeing all matters concerning the World Cup in India, and the ultimate decision will be made based on its recommendations.

The approved recommendations will be sent to the premier for final approval. Speaking to The Express Tribune, Mazari said he personally felt that the national team should go if the Indian team came to Pakistan to play the Asia Cup, adding that if they came, only then the Pakistan team should go to India.

Based on his conversations with the Indian media officials, Mazari felt that Indian players wanted to play in Pakistan but “Modi sarkar” did not permit them to do so.
He reiterated that the Indian team “should come to Pakistan as it not just leads to healthy competition but becomes the most-watched contest”.

As opposed to Mazari’s confirmation, a key cabinet minister said that the committee had not yet been “notified”, adding that the notification was expected in a day or two.

A couple of other ministers, expected to be named in the committee, also said that they had only heard about the PM-constituted committee but had not yet received any notification.

The team’s participation in the World Cup was contingent upon the government approval as per the conditions set by the PCB.

The ODI World Cup is scheduled to commence in India on Oct 5, with a Pakistan-India clash set to take place in Ahmedabad on Oct 15. Apart from Ahmedabad, Pakistan is also scheduled to play matches in Hyderabad Deccan, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

The World Cup continues until Nov 19.

The neighbours are bitter political adversaries and usually only meet in international tournaments at neutral venues, most recently during the T20 World Cup in Australia last year.