NEW DELHI: Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Monday that there was no chance of a cricket series being played between India and Pakistan.
In a press conference, Sushma Swaraj blamed Pakistan for violating truce along the Line of Control and said that due to such actions the ‘tone’ for a cricket series could not be set between the two countries even at neutral venues.
A bilateral series between India and Pakistan has not taken place since quite a while now owing to the poor relations between the two nations.
Ever since Indian troops gunned down freedom fighter Burhan Wani in occupied Kashmir, relations between the two nuclear states have deteriorated and clashes along the Line of Control have become frequent.
Pakistan rejects India’s unfounded allegations of provocation along the LoC and insists that the latter’s troops are involved in killing Pakistani civilians via unprovoked shelling.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has threatened to take action against the BCCI for failing to honour its contract regarding playing a cricket series with Pakistan.
Despite the strained ties and tensions, India and Pakistan play each other at international tournaments. The two countries last met at the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in which the green shirts trounced India by 180 runs to lift the title.