MOHALI – The only positive fallout of the Cricket World Cup semi-final between Pakistan and India in Mohali on Wednesday was Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh’s pledge to rebuild ties shattered after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The two prime ministers watched the match together from the stands. Before the game, they stood side by side for the national anthems before heading on to the pitch at the stadium to shake hands with players from both sides.
After the game, Gilani said the semi-final between Pakistan and India was positive in bringing the two leaderships and nations together.
“Today’s match brought the peoples and leadership of the two countries together. This, I believe is the positive outcome of today’s semi-final,” Gilani said in a message, adding that winning or losing did not matter – what mattered was its quality and team spirit.
Gilani congratulated both the teams for demonstrating sportsmanship and felicitated the winning Indian cricket team for showing better performance and determination. However, he added that the Pakistan team did put up resistance and played well but it was not their day. He hoped that there would be other occasions when both teams would play with each other, both in Pakistan and India.
The prime minister conveyed to the people of India that Pakistan wanted good neighbourly relations with them. “The resolution of all issues through dialogue will bring peace and prosperity to our people,” he said. Earlier, Gilani and Singh held brief talks during the match, as the two leaders used the fixture to promote better ties between their rival countries. Singh had invited Gilani to watch the match with him last week in a move dubbed “cricket diplomacy”.
At a dinner with Gilani during the game, Singh said the countries “need permanent reconciliation to live together in dignity and honour”. India and Pakistan “should be working together to find cooperative solutions and need permanent reconciliation to live together in dignity and honour,” Singh said. “We should put our ancient animosities behind us to attend to the problems of our nations.” The dinner started midway between the high-voltage semi final match.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Union Agriculture Minister and ICC chief Sharad Pawar, Union Minister of State Sachin Pilot, Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon were also part of the dinner engagement. From the Pakistani side, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar and Minister of State in Foreign Ministry Hina Rabani Khar, Awami National Party President Asfandyar Wali and Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik were present.
In a brief chat after the dinner, Gilani called his talks with his Indian counterpart positive and said they discussed all the core issues between the two countries. “Talks were positive, we discussed all the core issues between the two countries,” Gilani said.
Invitation: He said he invited the Indian prime minister and the Congress president to visit Pakistan. “As far as our relations are concerned, I’m happy our talks have resumed and interior (home) secretaries’ talks were held in a positive manner,” Gilani said, referring to talks between senior officials this week.
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said the match had “provided impetus” to efforts to re-build cross-border relations. “The meeting reaffirmed the intention that both countries want to take the process of dialogue ahead,” Rao said, adding that “both sides have the same goal of normalisation of the relationship”.
“I think every such meeting between the leaders of the two countries generates an extremely positive momentum,” she told a news conference. “I would like to emphasise this is re-engagement between India and Pakistan.
Cricket diplomacy – Gilani, Singh show ‘can do’ spirit
