Former RAW and ISI chiefs talk in favour of India-Pakistan cricket

The India-Pakistan cricketing ties have for long been a topic of deliberation. Not just the two governing bodies at the either ends of the border, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) but for the players, the fans and the experts. While the BCCI and the PCB have been at loggerheads over the MoU signed between them for bilateral matches two individuals from organizations that usually don’t look into each other in the eye have vouched for the resumption of the relations.

Amarjit Singh Dulat, the former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and Ehsanul Haq a retired General, who held the position of the Director General of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), two men who looked after the spy units of India and Pakistan want them to get back on the cricket field and play the game which will help them improve not just cricketing but diplomatic relations as well.

Cricket as peacemaker

They were present at an event organised by the South Asia Centre of the London School of Economics` (LSE) Pakistan Development Society and the South Asia Future Forum in London. In their view, cricket being the most followed sport in both the countries has the penetration to mend ties between the nations and thus should be resumed.

Pakistani channel, Geo News reported that the former spies think constant dialogue is essential for the countries to maintain peace in the region.

Last encounter

Though they have stayed at bay from playing any bilateral cricket, India and Pakistan did meet twice in the ICC Champions Trophy earlier this year. While the Men in Blue kicked off the tournament with an authoritative win over their neighbours when the two teams eventually met in the final the Green Army produced their A game to stun India and lift their first ever Champions Trophy title.