Frozen ties

July 30, 2024

ISLAMABAD – PROSPECTS for diplomatic engagement between India and Pakistan remain bleak. Any expectation that a multilateral summit that Islamabad will host in October will help to melt the ice between Pakistan and India seems premature in view of the persisting diplomatic stalemate, which neither side has sought to overcome.

As rotational chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Pakistan will convene the heads of government summit in around three months’ time. As part of the seven-member regional grouping, India has of course been invited. While it is too early to say whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate, indications so far are that it is highly unlikely. There has been no development to suggest that either side sees this as an opportunity for bilateral re-engagement. Quite the opposite.

Sports is always a useful barometer to assess if a diplomatic thaw is on the anvil as it both reflects a softening in position and paves the way for an easing of tensions. But that front too offers little grounds for optimism. Although cricket diplomacy has played a part in the past to bring the two countries closer, this is no longer the case.

Pakistan is to host the ICC Champions Trophy between February and March 2025. The Indian media is already reporting, citing official sources, that due to “strained relations” between the two neighbours, the Indian cricket team will not travel to Pakistan. Instead, the Indian cricket board plans to ask ICC for India’s matches to be played in Dubai or Sri Lanka. For some years now, the Modi government has barred its cricket team from playing in Pakistan. Even though Pakistan’s team played in India in an international tournament in late 2023, the Indian