Boria Majumdar
The government has now spelt out the roadmap of India’s engagement with Pakistan in sport. A firm NO to any kind of bilateral sporting ties. Permitting India to play Pakistan in multi-nation sports competitions, which are governed by the international charter, while deliberating on them if the competition is being played in Pakistan.
For the longest time I have been trying to explain exactly this mode of thinking. This is based on India’s geo-political ambitions. Aspirations of being a global power. Hosting the Olympics is not just about sport. In fact, much less about sport than about India’s projection as a strong player capable of hosting the world on its soil.
Pakistan, may I say, will never be able to do any of this. They are incapable of staging global sport, don’t have the resources to do so and will never be able to leverage sport as soft power. India, chances are, will host the 2030 CWG and also the 2036 Olympics, both of which will be projections of our soft power ambitions.
No one in India wants to engage with Pakistan on the sports field. It is not about wanting to play them or about making money. That India versus Pakistan is a lucrative sports property is a given. But that’s not why the government has decided to allow engagement in multi-nation competitions. By that logic the government could have allowed bilateral sport in neutral venues as well. A lot of money could have been made that way. The government wouldn’t have banned real money gaming. It stands to lose thousands of crores because of the act. Playing or not playing against Pakistan is not about money. The decision goes far deeper and is about India’s projection in the next decade.
Many have suggested India boycott the game against Pakistan in the Asia Cup. While the anger is palpable, it wouldn’t be something that will help India’s global ambitions. Pakistan would have used it to go crying to the international community that India doesn’t play them in global competitions, doesn’t issue visas to their players and yet wants to stage global sports events. India’s decisions violate the international charter and hence India shouldn’t be allowed to stage global spectacles like the Olympics. It would have empowered Pakistan to forge an international alliance against India and the government has nullified such a move.
India’s soft power ambitions have guided the decision and like it or not it is firmly rooted in real politik. To post on X that it is all about money can get people some likes or followers but such influencers don’t have the brains to understand what’s going on. They just want to cash in on the anger and make some instant gain.
A war isn’t won in a day. India’s progress and rise as a global power is the biggest answer to Pakistan. And to do so, sport is a key lever of international engagement. The Olympics is never about medals won or records broken. It is about showcasing what you stand for and how strong you are as a country. The government knows it and has acted decisively. The call is entirely guided by India’s ambitions and Pakistan is frankly incidental to it.
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