India, Pakistan trade diplomatic barbs over cricket

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – India and Pakistan are  trading diplomatic barbs over cricket in the latest setback to  efforts to improve relations between the two nuclear rivals,  who have had strained ties since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

An auction of players at the Indian Premier League (IPL),  the world’s richest cricket tournament, ended with no bids for  11 Pakistanis this week amid fears Indian teams could have visa problems for the Pakistani cricketers.

Pakistan, always sensitive to any hint of a snub by its  neighbour, was furious. Some of the Pakistani players who  failed to get a bid from the Indian sides are considered world class, such as all-rounder Shahid Afridi. Indian TV stations aired pictures of straw effigies of IPL  chief Lalit Modi burning on Pakistani streets on Thursday.  “I want to make it clear that whether it is India or any  other country in the world, their citizens would have to face  (the) same behaviour as meted out to our people,” Pakistan’s  Interior Minister Rehman Malik was quoted by Pakistan’s  state-run APP news agency as saying on Wednesday. The Indian government dismissed Pakistan’s concerns, saying visas had been issued to 17 Pakistani players.

“Pakistan should introspect on the reasons which have put a strain on relations between India and Pakistan, and have adversely impacted on peace, stability and prosperity in the  region,” a foreign ministry statement said.

Tensions have mounted in recent weeks following a spate of border skirmishes and a spike in separatist violence in Indian  Kashmir by Pakistan-based militant groups.

The deterioration comes at a bad time for the region.  India’s and Pakistan’s foreign ministers are both due to attend  a meeting in London next week where leading Western powers will  focus on a new plan for Afghanistan.

“The IPL gives Pakistan an additional issue to prepare its  ground that India is unfriendly, and such things will vitiate  the atmosphere (of the London meeting),” said B.G. Verghese, a  professor with the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research.The United States is trying to get India and Pakistan,  which have fought three wars since their independence from  Britain, to reduce tensions so Islamabad can concentrate on  fighting al-Qaeda and Taliban militants on its western border.

But improvements in ties between the South Asian rivals  remains limited as India refuses to resume five-year-long peace  talks unless Islamabad reins in militants on its soil blamed  for carrying out the Mumbai strikes that killed 166 people.

Many Pakistanis say their country is making progress  against the militants, and see India’s reluctance to engage  Islamabad as unhelpful for the region.

While many Pakistanis remain obsessed with New Delhi’s  every move, a section in India is simply not as bothered with  their rival as in the past as the Asian giant becomes more  focused on  expanding  $1.2 trillion economy and ties  with China. A new war is unlikely. It would benefit neither nuclear  power and open their increasingly globalised economies to a  risk of huge investor uncertainty. But U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned on Wednesday  a second strike like Mumbai could provoke retaliation from  India.     Cricket has often been a source of strengthening ties. In the past, politicians from both sides have turned to  cricket to reduce tension and tried to boost cultural links in  what experts have called “Track-II Diplomacy” at times of  intractable diplomacy. “The IPL saga brings home the fact that a lack of progress  on political dialogue will cast a shadow on areas where we have  done relatively well like culture and sports,” said Lalit  Mansingh, India’s former foreign secretary.

Pakistani cricketers, the current world T20 champions,  played in the inaugural edition of IPL in 2008, but were denied  permission by Islamabad last year due to tensions between the  rivals following the Mumbai attacks.