ISLAMABAD, March 13: Cricketing ties between India and Pakistan are part of the confidence building measures (CBMs) initiated by the two countries to defuse tensions and pave the way for dialogue on a level playing field for the resolution of all outstanding issues, Pakistan's foreign office said here on Saturday.

"These matches are a good backdrop for the dialogue process that we have started as they highlight an area of convergence rather than divergence," foreign office spokesman Masood Khan told Dawn.

In response to a question if the visit of the Indian prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was on the cards to witness the Lahore cricket match, the spokesman said: "There was no such proposal under consideration by either government." However, the spokesman said if India expressed a desire for the visit of the Indian prime minister, Pakistan would welcome such a move.

Sources said President Gen Pervez Musharraf might witness one of the cricket matches between India and Pakistan for which the authorities were taking into view the security considerations at different venues including Rawalpindi.

Cricket was used as a tool of backdoor diplomacy by Gen Zia-ul-Haq at the height of tensions with India during mid 1980s.

The world community is watching with renewed zeal the diplomatic initiatives between India and Pakistan in which cricket has once again become a source of people-to-people contact and a tool of diplomacy for sending out messages of peace across the border.

Pakistan's foreign office spokesman said cricket is a popular game in India and Pakistan, but because of the efforts aimed at bringing peace in South Asia, people from all over the world were watching these matches.

"These matches are important. They are part of the confidence building measures that Pakistan and India have announced," he said.

"All CBMs, including sporting ties, are linked to the dialogue process and the dialogue process is linked to the resolution of all outstanding issues, especially Kashmir," he said. The foreign office spokesman said let these matches become a metaphor for dialogue.

Opinion

Editorial

Moving forward
Updated 29 Sep, 2023

Moving forward

It is hoped that the ECP followed the set rules diligently while demarcating constituency boundaries.
Pipeline in stasis
29 Sep, 2023

Pipeline in stasis

DESPITE repeated assurances by successive governments that the scheme is still on the table, the Iran-Pakistan gas...
Playing in India
29 Sep, 2023

Playing in India

WITH visa issues resolved, and after slight alterations in travel plans, Pakistan’s cricket team finally touched...
Accruing more debt
Updated 28 Sep, 2023

Accruing more debt

We are in midst of the worst, longest economic crisis because of lavish lifestyles of powerful interests.
Israeli normalisation
28 Sep, 2023

Israeli normalisation

OVER the past few weeks, there have been many reports prophesising the impending normalisation of ties between Saudi...
Kandhkot tragedy
28 Sep, 2023

Kandhkot tragedy

THE tragic incident that unfolded yesterday in Sindh’s Kandhkot tehsil, leading to the deaths of at least nine...