Prime Minister Manmohan Singh walked into the hall to hand over the Business Standard Awards. Present at Delhi’s Maurya Sheraton was a glittering array of Indian business. He settled in the chair and then the news broke: Singh had invited Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to watch the high-voltage India-Pakistan cricket match with him, to be held at Mohali on Wednesday.
Even before the presenter could finish the sentence, the hall, full to the brim with India’s best and brightest, erupted into applause, which lasted several minutes. This was as ringing an endorsement as the government could have hoped for its cricket diplomacy. After becoming the CEO of the Indian government, this will be the Singh’s first outing to watch live cricket in a stadium.
Present at the gathering was home minister P Chidambaram. The announcement came as a bit of a surprise even for him. When asked about the additional preparations required at Mohalil, Chidambaram smiled wryly: “We are fully prepared. At the most, there will be a bit more frisking.”
This is not the first time cricket has taken centrestage in Indo-Pak diplomacy. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee overruled the apprehensions of some of his senior cabinet colleagues and decided to send Team India in 2003 for a series in Pakistan. Before the team left for Lahore, Vajpayee had invited them for tea, where he famously advised them: “Dil bhi jeeto (Win their hearts, too!).”
Sonia Gandhi has received invitations in the past from the Pak establishment to watch cricket matches. She didn’t do so, but he children, Rahul and Priyanka, did do so.
President Pervez Musharraf had visited to watch one India-Pakistan cricket match in 2005, for the first time after the failed Agra summit four years previously. On that occasion, he also visited South Asia’s most famous Muslim shrine, Ajmersharif, where, dressed in a pink turban and white salwar-kameez, he prayed for peace and made an offering before flying on to New Delhi.
In his letter to Zardari and Gilani, the PM has written, “I propose to be at Mohali to watch the World Cup semi-final match between India and Pakistan to be held on 30 March. There is huge excitement over the match and we are all looking forward to a great game of cricket that will be a victory for sport. It gives me great pleasure to invite you to visit Mohali and join me and the millions of fans from our two countries to watch the match.”
The PM’s wife would also be present.
India beat Australia yesterday in the quarter finals to enter the semis. The Last time India and Pakistan confronted each other in a major tournament was in the first T20 world cup, in 2003, and India won, becoming the world champion.
