Anurag Thakur Says India's Participation In Asia Cup Against Pakistan A 'Compulsion': 'When Multinational Tournaments....'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Asia Cup 2025: Amid the ongoing row over the high-voltage India–Pakistan match of Asia Cup scheduled for Saturday, BJP MP and former sports minister Anurag Thakur stepped in to settle the debate, reiterating that India's stance on bilateral cricket remains unchanged.

Thakur told ANI that India's participation is a matter of tournament rules, not diplomacy.“When multinational tournaments are organised by ACC or ICC, it becomes a compulsion, a necessity for nations to participate. If they don't do that, they will be eliminated from the tournament, they will have to forfeit the match and the other team will get the points...,” he explained.

“But India doesn't play bilateral tournaments with Pakistan . We have made this decision for years that India won't play bilateral tournaments with Pakistan until Pakistan stops terrorist attacks on India," he added.

Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah emphasised that India's historical reluctance has centered around bilateral cricketing ties, not participation in matches that are part of multilateral tournaments. He said,“Our problem has always been with bilateral cricket matches, and I don't think we have ever had a problem with the multilateral part of large tournaments... You can't wish away what happens. My part of the country has been the direct victim... We all saw what happened in Pahalgam. These are real concerns that we have."

Meanwhile, Pahalgam terror attack victim Shubham Dwivedi's father Sanjay Dwivedi and wife Aishanya Dwivedi have shown opposition towards the scheduled match tomorrow.

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Sanjay Dwiedi stated,“On 22nd April 2025, Pakistan killed 26 innocent people of our country. The government of India had said that it would have no relations with Pakistan and that blood and water cannot flow together. Since the day I got to know (about the India vs Pakistan match), not just me but the entire country has been opposing it and saying that there should be no relations, political or in the sports field, with Pakistan. I oppose this and urge the government to take action in this matter, keeping the public sentiment in mind.”

“I cannot understand this. I urge people to boycott this. Do not go to watch this and do not switch on your TV for this," she said.

SC refuses urgent listing of plea against India-Pakistan Asia Cup

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused urgent listing of plea which sought interim stay on India-Pakistan match. A bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi was hearing the matter.

Also Read | Asia Cup 2025: SC rejects PIL for urgent hearing to cancel India-Pak T20 match

"Cricket between nations is meant to show harmony and friendship. But after the Pahalgam Terror Attack and Operation Sindoor, when our people died and our soldiers risked everything, playing with Pakistan sent the opposite message that while our soldiers sacrifice their lives, we are celebrating sports with the same families of the victims who lost their lives at the hands of the Pakistani terrorist", the plea filed by one Urvashi Jain stated.

It mentioned,“Operation Sindoor is still ongoing against the terror base camps in Pakistan. When we still have infiltrations in a non-stop manner in the valley of Kashmir, our armed forces have been carrying out day & night search operations fighting the infiltrators from Pakistan, our soldiers are sacrificing their lives and citizens too falling prey to the bullets of Pakistan-sponsored terrorists.”

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