The United States has expressed its support for Pakistan-India cricket diplomacy and desires that in addition to progress on trade relations, the two South Asian nations now also move forward on trust building, counter-terrorism cooperation and tackling political issues.
According to the US State Department, “Americans generally don’t know much about cricket but they like it, when Pakistan and India play their popular sport.”
“We’re for cricket. We don’t understand it, but we like it,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said amid laughter during the daily briefing.
She was commenting on Pakistan and India, the two Asian powerhouses, resuming their cricketing ties later this year, in a diplomatic move that is part of broader efforts to normalise bilateral relations.
Cricket is the most popular sport in both Pakistan and India, and contests between Pakistan and India are played in a spirit of intense competition and rivalry. In recent months, the two countries have shown willingness to improve their bilateral ties in trade and some other areas. But, Islamabad and New Delhi are still to make progress on addressing some longstanding contentious security and political issues, including Kashmir dispute.
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