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India Confirms No Travel to Pakistan for 2025 Champions Trophy, Cites Security Concerns
India confirms it will not travel to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy, opting for Dubai instead. Security concerns remain a key factor despite recent diplomatic talks.
ND
by News Desk
2024-11-08
India Confirms No Travel to Pakistan for 2025 Champions Trophy, Cites Security Concerns

India has officially confirmed it will not travel to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy, citing ongoing security concerns. According to Indian media reports, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its decision to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), opting to play all of its matches in Dubai instead.

 

This announcement follows a period of anticipation and optimism following diplomatic talks between Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Islamabad. Their high-level meeting, the first direct talks between the two nations since 2015, had led to some hope of thawing relations and the potential for cricketing ties to improve. However, despite this diplomatic breakthrough, the BCCI remains firm on its stance of not playing in Pakistan for the upcoming tournament.

 

The 2025 Champions Trophy is scheduled to take place from February 19 to March 9, 2025, and will feature the top eight cricketing nations. The tournament will be hosted in Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi, with Pakistan eagerly anticipating the return of international cricket. However, India’s decision to play its matches in Dubai casts doubt on the prospects of positive cricketing relations between the two rivals.

 

India's position on the matter follows a pattern established last year when it moved its Asia Cup matches to Sri Lanka despite pressure from Pakistan to play the event in the host country. With India refusing to travel to Pakistan, the future of cricketing ties between the two nations remains uncertain, even after promising diplomatic talks.

 

The refusal to play in Pakistan due to security concerns continues to be a sensitive issue in Indo-Pak relations, with cricket being one of the few areas of potential engagement.

 
Tagged:

Pakistan

india

pcb

BCCI

CricketDiplomacy

ChampionsTrophy2025

CricketRelations
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