The India-Pakistan clash in the 2025 Asia Cup, scheduled for September 14 in Dubai, has got the green light from the country’s government. The Sports Ministry unveiled a new policy on India’s international engagements with emphasis on Pakistan on Thursday, which confirms that the Centre won’t stop the Board of Control for Cricket in India from participating in the Pakistan game, but the bilateral cricket relations will remain severed.
According to news agency PTI, the policy is effective immediately. It formally ratifies the government’s position on the India-Pakistan cricketing matters. However, it was made clear when the BCCI decided to go ahead with participating in the tournament involving the neighbors, despite calls to boycott it in light of the Pahalgam terror attack and the resulting cross-border tensions that resulted in several innocent deaths in April-May.
Policy of Indian Government for India Pakistan clashes in cricket
“India’s approach to sports events involving Pakistan reflects its overall policy in dealing with that country,” the ministry policy says.
“In so far as bilateral sports events in each other’s country are concerned, Indian teams will not be participating in competitions in Pakistan. Nor will we permit Pakistani teams to play in India.”
The Asia Cup (and future World Cups) will remain unaffected.
“With regard to international and multilateral events, in India or abroad, we are guided by the practices of international sports bodies and the interest of our own sportspersons. It is also relevant to take into account India’s emergence as a credible venue to host international sports events.
Accordingly, Indian teams and individual players will take part in international events that also have teams or players from Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistani players and teams will be able to participate in such multilateral events hosted by India,” the policy said.
The policy also promises a simpler visa allotment procedure to ‘position India as a preferred destination for hosting international sporting events’.
Ahead of the Asia Cup 2025, former cricketer Manoj Tiwary shared his thoughts on whether the India-Pakistan clash must be played or not, saying that he is very surprised seeing that the match is taking place after the Pahalgam terror attack.
Former player Manoj Tiwary express surprizing reactions on India -Pakistan clash in Asia Cup 2025
The Suryakumar led team will kick off their campaign against the UAE on September 10, while the high-voltage game against Pakistan is scheduled for September 14, with both fixtures set to be played in Dubai. India will play their final group stage fixture against Oman on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.
The question of whether the popular cricketing fixture should take place has been a massive point of debate leading up to the tournament, especially after Indian legends did not play their matches against Pakistan in the World Championships of Legends (WCL) recently due to tensions between both nations. While there have been voices backing the match to go ahead, as it’s a multi-national tournament with a title at stake, there has been a massive section just as vocal in calling for a boycott of the match.
Speaking to ANI about the India-Pakistan match, Manoj Tiwary said,
“I am a little surprised that this match is going to happen… After the Pahalgam attack, in which so many innocent civilians were killed, and then the war that followed, a lot of talk was going on that this time we will give a befitting reply. Despite this, after a few months, everything has been forgotten… I find it hard to believe that this match is happening, that the value of a human life can be zero.
What do they want to achieve by playing with Pakistan?… The value of a human life should be more than sports… There is no question of me watching the match at all…”
India and Pakistan are part of Group A in the eight-team competition. The format allows them to play as many as three times within a few days — if they qualify at the top of their four-team group, they’ll proceed to a round-robin Super-Four, and can then meet again in the final — bringing a windfall of revenue for the broadcaster and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) each time.
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