Cricket and Diplomacy

Dr Manmohan Singh (R) and Gilani

By Salman Haidar

THE overwhelming conclusion, India’s win, and the long-running subsequent euphoria are there to be savoured. Nearly all else associated with the World Cup has been overshadowed and more or less driven out of mind, which, in the circumstances, is perfectly understandable. But if MS Dhoni and Co. made their point so emphatically at the end, so also in the long unfolding of the tournament did Dr. Manmohan Singh make the point he wished to make. Let not the warm afterglow of victory wholly obscure other meaningful developments on and around the cricket pitch.

At the point that India and Pakistan emerged in a semi-final face off, Dr Singh, in an imaginative diplomatic move, sent out an invitation to Pakistan’s leaders to come as his guests to witness the match. This was not the first time that the leaders of the two countries have sought to harness their shared passion for cricket to advance the cause of better relations. This time it was smartly done: the opportunity arose only when the two teams had advanced sufficiently, a fortuitous circumstance that India’s Prime Minister seized. The invitation looked very much like his personal initiative ~ there were none of the usual tortuous preliminaries to be seen when India and Pakistan get together, predictable and tedious background briefings, unending preliminary discussions to define the issues and set the scene. There was no time for all that: the occasion arose and it was seized.

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