Breaking the ice: Cricket diplomacy at work – again

In a phone call to Nawaz, Modi says Indian foreign secretary will soon visit Pakistan

NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan and India seem to be moving towards resuming their stalled peace process after Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Friday and informed him that the Indian foreign secretary would soon visit Islamabad.

The development came hours after US President Barack Obama called the Pakistani premier and discussed important regional issues. A source in the Foreign Office told The Express Tribune that the American leader conveyed to Nawaz that New Delhi would soon re-engage with Islamabad. During his recent visit to India, President Obama privately pushed Modi to resume peace talks with Pakistan.

In an attempt to preempt an impression that Obama played any role in Modi’s move, India decided to send its foreign secretary to Pakistan under the pretext of his visit to the member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc).



An official statement issued by the Prime Minister Office stated that Nawaz welcomed the Indian decision to send its foreign secretary to Islamabad to discuss all issues of common interest.

He said Pakistan wants resolution of all outstanding disputes with India through dialogue. He further said that Pakistan desires friendly relations with all its neighbours. “Dialogue between Pakistan and India is imperative for peace and stability in the region,” he added.

Modi telephoned Nawaz a day after Pakistan’s High Commissioner in New Delhi Abdul Basit met India’s new Foreign Secretary S Jiashankar. The two bureaucrats discussed the prospects of resumption of bilateral talks, according to sources.

India in August last year cancelled scheduled foreign secretary-level talks at the last moment after the Pakistan envoy met Kashmiri separatist leaders in New Delhi. Islamabad has maintained all along since then that India would have to take the initiative for resumption of dialogue between the two countries.

Although, exact dates have not been announced, the Indian foreign secretary is likely to visit in March. The visit is seen as a significant development as this may help ease tensions between the two nuclear armed neighbours.



‘Cricket Diplomacy’

Using ‘cricket diplomacy’, Modi also spoke other heads of the Saarc nations participating in the ICC Cricket World Cup and conveyed his best wishes for the mega event.

“Spoke to [Afghan] President Ashraf Ghani, [Bangladesh] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and [Sri Lankan] President [Maithripala] Sirisena. Conveyed my best wishes for the Cricket World Cup,” Modi tweeted on the mircoblogging site Twitter.

Noting that five Saarc nations are playing and are excited about the world cup, Modi said: “[I] am sure WC will celebrate sportsman spirit and will be a treat for sports lovers.”

“Cricket connects people in our region and promotes goodwill. Hope players from Saarc region play with passion and bring laurels to the region,” he added.

NDTV news channel cited unnamed sources as saying that PM Modi joked about Nawaz Sharif playing in a warm-up world cup match in 1987 alongside cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who is now Pakistan’s top opposition leader.

Nawaz reportedly laughed and said, ‘Kaash vo din dubaara aate (I wish those days would come back),” NDTV reported.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2015.