Sharjah-Harjah

Yes but it’s wrong no matter who does it. As a civilization, it should always be condemned! There should be no room for violence.

Smart Indians might want to ask why their government’s stance doesn’t have broader global support. If Pakistan were truly this dangerous, bloodthirsty place portrayed in Bollywood and the media, why isn’t anyone else on board? Also, it’s not exactly "good for Pakistan." Pakistan’s about to host a major cricketing party, and obviously it’s a downer when one team’s off in the UAE, sulking like the grumpy uncle at a party—upset because they didn’t get to pick the movie. It’s a poor look for India and the event overall.

Absolutely! I agree that it is really just an extension of the BJP’s policy to isolate Pakistan, not something that’s in the BCCI’s hands. My point isn’t whether India *can* do this—it’s more about how it looks and if it is effective. When Russia was banned from the Olympics, there was a lot of global support, so it didn’t look bad. But if India’s the only team playing its games in the UAE over security concerns, it’s going to come across as pretty awkward. And when you think about U.S. actions post-9/11 or its support for Israel, they kept going, but at a cost to their global reputation. India might face a similar PR issue and it’s already losing the moral support on the issue, which will look even more foolish and absurd when Indian team will be sitting alone in some UAE hotel while the whole cricketing world will be in Pakistan.

The big assumption in your post hinges on “the majority of Pakistani folks” making hateful or ludicrous statements. What survey or research supports the idea that this is a majority view? In Pakistani politics and elections, India-bashing isn’t a common theme. In fact, leaders of major political parties often emphasize building friendly relations with India in their rallies, as that’s what the public wants to hear and vote for—you can easily look this up on Google or YouTube. On the other hand, one could argue that Pakistan-bashing is a central theme in BJP’s politics.

Well, the world was principally aligned on ignoring/isolating Russia. However, in this case, India’s stance is isolated and doesn’t have broad support. India will be alone in UAE. How does that look from an optics standpoint? As for “apprehending”, I am 100% with you that Pakistan must apprehend any and every single person responsible for 26/11 and terror attacks in India. In the same vein, India must apprehend those responsible for killing 40 Pakistani nationals in Samjohta express terror attack. It’s not fair or sufficient to release suspects because of “lack of evidence”. But Indians think their intelligence agencies are “nice” and aren’t involved in any trouble in the Pakistan, and don’t have any role in terror attacks that take place in Pakistan, when reality is more complicated and nuanced than what BJP controlled Indian media will have you believe and repeat here.

This is by far the best post I’ve read from an Indian perspective on this topic—thank you for having the courage to speak openly. That said, I wonder if it’s really fair to compare this situation with the US/Russia and the Olympics, especially considering the world was aligned with the US, while India stands alone. Ten years ago, India had strong global support. But today, in the cricketing world, India stands isolated. What kind of PR will this create when teams, fans, and commentators from around the world are gathered in Pakistan, while India alone plays in the UAE? It would only highlight the absurdity of sticking to an outdated policy.

I’m hoping Pakistan agrees to the hybrid model, as it would highlight the isolation of India’s strategy. It would be ironic to see India playing its own games in Dubai while teams from around the world enjoy the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, where the real excitement will be. This approach would naturally reveal the absurdity and embarrassment of a policy that feels pointless and damaging to India’s reputation.

There was a time when I felt India had a strong narrative globally regarding its issues with Pakistan on terrorism, and many countries aligned with India, leaving Pakistan isolated. For almost a decade no team toured Pakistan. However, in recent years, Pakistan has made significant progress in combating terrorism, and the world has acknowledged these efforts, as shown by the increasing number of international teams now regularly touring Pakistan and Pakistan will be hosting its first ICC event. Now, India finds itself more isolated, lacking broad support, and its stance is beginning to appear desperate to neutral observers because all other teams are visiting Pakistan and do not agree with India’s stance. Recently, several Australian commentators even mocked the political bias and pettiness of India’s decision to undermine its neighbor’s tournament, pointing out that more is expected from the stronger, larger country than the weaker one and the decision amounts to bullying…

Every country is now touring Pakistan. There’s no heightened threat to Indian cricketers based on bilateral animosity, any more than those existed when Pakistani cricketers visited India.

Of the 68 who died on that terror attack in India, 40 were Pakistani nationals in the Samjhota Express. The NIA suspected that Swami Aseemanand was the mastermind behind the attack, but later acquitted four men, including Aseemanand, due to “lack of evidence”. Pakistan should absolutely apprehend every single person involved in the 26/11 attack. It was a horrific incident and it’s unacceptable for the mastermind and Pakistani nationals to not be held accountable by its Government. The same logic should be applied to perpetrators of Samjohta express.

It’s irrelevant why Pakistan or for that matter India was created. All countries that exist today were created due to politics, conflict and war. The question should be forward looking: how do prosperous and successful societies behave and work backwards from that goal to see what needs to be done differently. Anything outside peace and prosperity is unsustainable.

1. It’s about who you choose to listen to—there's both good and bad everywhere. 2. I don’t blame any of you; this is a consequence of isolation and a lack of direct contact between people. What you know about Pakistan is largely filtered through media, which is increasingly influenced by politics. The sheer number of Bollywood movies chest thumping and depicting Pakistan as a terror haven is alarming, raising questions about who’s behind this narrative and why. Over the years, the portrayal of Pakistan in Bollywood and other media channels has become so skewed that it’s understandable why you feel the way you do. Like I said, I don’t hold you responsible for this perspective. But if this continues, the result won’t be a simple “blockade”—it’ll be something far more serious. Without a foundation of friendship, no other outcome is sustainable.

India and Pakistan should have relations like the U.S. and Canada. I support best friendship between the two countries and nothing else.

Why are you all wasting your time on a political line that India is not going to Pakistan because of “security issues”. Security is not the problem. It’s an excuse. The main reason of course is the self proclaimed Indian regional strategy of isolating its smaller and weaker Neighbour Pakistan and continue to dominate and bully it, in-line with treatment of all other neighbors by India. The effects of Indian state sponsored terror error attack on SL team in Pakistan is now fading. Other teams are touring, which is exposing India’s stance. India’s options are to refresh another attack of that kind or they will increasingly get isolated in isolating Pakistan. On the other hand, it is as unlikely that Pakistan will apprehend the mastermind of 26/11 as India will apprehend Samjhota express’. Both have done wrong, and it’s true Pakistan has done more wrong. Yet; the political narrative in India is that it’s an “innocent victim” and they’ve done “nothing wrong” and intelligence agencies have just been drinking tea all this time, so the high horse is not going to help find any solutions in short term.

Typical reactionary Pakistani fan. You're mixing formats here for Fakhar. A batter with 3.5k runs, an average of 47, and a strike rate of 95 in ODIs isn't exactly "hit and miss." Fakhar's even got two Man of the Match awards in his last four ODIs—he's among the best out there in this format. He is the first batter on team sheet in ODIs for Pakistan. And about Imam: while he was rested during the World Cup, selectors said it was due to a failed fitness test this time around. With an ODI average of 48, plus solid numbers (45 in England, 50 in South Africa, yet to debut in Aus and 1 game in NZ), he’s hardly "useless." Sure, his strike rate isn’t the highest, but for Pakistan’s batting setup, Imam's a pretty reliable choice to play 50 overs and put a total the bowling can defend.

Pakistan too was without imam and Fakhar but the replacements fired. However, Marsh and Travis replacement flopped so they were missed.