Bats, balls and diplomacy

There are historical precedents for there, sometimes being a functional linkage between sport and international diplomacy. Ping-pong diplomacy between China and the US in the early 1970s contributed directly to a thaw in relations between the two powers. Today, there is a possibility of the peace process between India and Pakistan getting rebooted with cricket as the diplomatic metaphor employed both by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The process has been stuck since the Mumbai attacks, and nothing seemingly was able to unstick it with neither side playing their best game. Mr Modi has called Nawaz Sharif and told him that the Indian foreign secretary is shortly to visit Islamabad as part of a round of visits he is to make of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries.



Also in play has been American President Barack Obama, who bowled a bouncer to Mr Modi that he had to respond deftly to if it were not to look like Uncle Sam was twisting Indian arms. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has indicated that he will be pleased to see the Indian foreign secretary in Pakistan and the diplomatic thermometer eased a point or two above freezing. The move comes hard on the heels of the meeting between our new High Commissioner in India Abdul Basit and Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, who discussed the possibility of resumption of bilateral talks. Assuming there are no bumps in the road before the Jaishankar visit, this will represent a return to the point at which the talks last fell over. Secretary-level talks were cancelled after Kashmiri leaders met with Pakistani diplomats, and the respective teams have been in the club house ever since. Play is likely to be resumed around a date still to be fixed in March and we are happy that it will. Mr Modi has joked with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif about him playing in a warm-up match in 1987, and the latter reportedly responded that he wished those days could come back. A carefully tended pitch awaits the resumption of one of the most important games in the world.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th,  2015.

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