India, Pakistan open window: Cricket on table, Jaishankar and his counterpart hold talks on sidelines of SCO meet

A bilateral series before the 50-over multinational ICC event will need a tweak to the international calendar.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar being received by Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif at the venue of the SCO meeting in Islamabad on Wednesday. (ANI photo)

In the first direct conversation between Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan since 2015, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar spoke twice in less than 24 hours, and there were indications that these talks explored the idea of resuming some form of cricketing ties between the two countries, The Indian Express has learned.

Sources, however, underlined that these conversations, which took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting of Council of Heads of Government, are very preliminary and “need to be thought through” on both sides given that ties between the two countries have remained frozen for years.

But the talks do open a window and a possible first step could be the Champions Trophy being hosted by Pakistan next February. There was already a guessing game on whether the Indian team would travel to Pakistan for the matches.

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Jaishankar and Dar met Tuesday evening at the dinner hosted by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for SCO leaders at his residence. After exchanging pleasantries and a few words as they shook hands, the two ministers had a conversation over dinner, sources said.

Sources said the ministers decided to carry forward the conversation over lunch on Wednesday, after the end of the SCO plenary session.

They were not supposed to be seated together at the lunch for leaders, but instructions went out to the Pakistan protocol to ensure that Jaishankar and Dar were next to each other.

One of their conversations, sources said, was on cricket — it’s a game Jaishankar is very fond of. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi, who is also Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, was also looped in.

Sources said the idea being explored was to resume some form of cricketing ties — and the possibility of the Indian cricket team travelling to Pakistan. One possible window of opportunity, sources said, is the Champions Trophy. It is going to be hosted by Pakistan from February 19 to March 9, 2025.

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While sources cautioned that these were very preliminary conversations and needed to be “thought through” on both sides, “the atmospherics were good” and, unlike the SCO meeting in Goa in May 2023, there were no fireworks this time.

In Goa, Jaishankar, targeting Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the then Pakistan Foreign Minister, called him a spokesperson for the terrorism industry. Bhutto Zardari had raised Jammu and Kashmir and Article 370, which had irked the Indian side.

This time, there were no provocative statements by the Pakistani side — ministers stuck to the talking points. Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the Lahore Declaration should be followed, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said they were meeting for a multilateral event as part of reciprocity, and the Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Jaishankar was a “guest of Pakistan”.

Jaishankar too followed the script and, in a post at the end of his visit, said, “Departing from Islamabad. Thank PM @CMShehbaz, DPM & FM @MIshaqDar50 and the Government of Pakistan for the hospitality and courtesies.”

Explained

All eyes on Champions Trophy

The PCB, which will host the Champions Trophy in February next year, has been urging India to travel to Pakistan for the matches. If India do go, it will be the team’s first visit across the border in 17 years. A bilateral series will require massive tweaks in their busy calendars. Both India and Pakistan teams have packed schedules at home and abroad.

Dar is an important and influential player in Pakistan’s current establishment. Not only is he a close confidant of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the patriarch of the Sharif family, but is also related to them — Dar’s eldest son is married to Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Asma Nawaz. From that perspective, he carries the mandate of the Sharifs as well.

There have been efforts of late by the PCB to convince India to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. Those in the know say the PCB has given the BCCI various options regarding the itinerary for the first visit of their cricketers across the border in 17 years.

While the PCB had decided to schedule all three league games involving India in Lahore, the broadcasters wanted them to also play at other venues. Considering this request, the PCB floated the idea of having a game in Rawalpindi. The PCB communication to the BCCI also stated that Lahore was earmarked as the venue because this would allow India to travel home after every game if the side so wished.

A bilateral series before the 50-over multinational ICC event will need a tweak to the international calendar. Pakistan, after the ongoing England Test series that ends on October 28, have important away-tours lined up. Between early November and late December, they are set to tour Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The new year starts with them hosting West Indies, followed by a tri-series that would also feature South Africa and New Zealand.

For India too, the months ahead are busy. At the end of the New Zealand Test series this month, India travels to South Africa and Australia. After their return in January, they host England before the Champions Trophy.