Cricket opens floodgates of opportunity for peace between India and Pakistan

The game of Cricket has given an opportunity of fine setting to start peace talks between

the two countries. It is the strength of cricket that loosing captain Shaid Afridi of

Pakistan has said in a poser to journalists,"why do we hate India?". This statement of

Afridi has great significance in establishing peace and amity between the two hostile

neighbours.It also speaks his great sense of sportsman spirit.

In the Semi Final Match of the World Cup against Pakistan by inviting Pakistan Prime

Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to see the match, Prime Minister has shown maturity, shrewdness

and diplomatic skill for establishing peace and amity between the two hostile neighbours.

Pak PM responded to the invitation promptly and graced the occasion of Mohali Semi Final

bwtween India and Pak and talked to his Indian counterpart Dr. Manmohan Singh in a cordial

atmosphere. They must have talked about how to resolve outstanding problems between the two

countries as they are not expected about knowing cricketing nuances.

Sports and Cultural activities have the great power of giving healing toutch, no matter how

old the wound is. The Mohali match is also a testimony to the fact that common people of

both the countries have nothing against each other. They want more and more sports contests

between the two neighbours, no matter which country loses or which wins. It is a sport one

side has to lose.

Buoyed by his cricket diplomacy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rightly said that India

and Pakistan should put their ancient animosities behind them and work for a permanent

reconciliation and cooperative solutions to their problems.It is a matter of great

importance that PM Singh has said this during the dinner meeting with Pakistani counterpart

Gilani. Poverty, illiteracy and diseases are the problems confronting both India and

Pakistan. So, if we forget the past and face these existing problems unitedly on one hand

and encourage people to people contacts on the other by holding combined sports and cultural

contests, our relations are bound to improve.