India and Pakistan themselves should resolve the issues between them : US

USA’s response to Pakistani journalist who asked USA about India’s decision not to participate in a cricket tournament in Pakistan

Washington (USA) – Pakistani journalist questioned a US official about India’s decision to not travel to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy, with the US official emphasizing that the issue is for India and Pakistan to address.

The issue of India not sending its national cricket team to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy was raised by a Pakistani journalist during the US Department of State’s daily press briefing.

On 14^thNovember, a Pakistani journalist questioned principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel about the Indian government’s stance on not sending the national cricket team to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy, highlighting the tournament as the second-largest cricket event after the World Cup.

1. The Pakistani journalist began by saying, “There’s a big cricket event in Pakistan.” Surprised, Patel replied, “Cricket? Oh, I didn’t have that on my bingo card. Go ahead.”

2. The journalist continued, “It’s the biggest event after the Cricket World Cup, and India was set to participate, but the Indian Government has refused to send the team to Pakistan. The Indian team last visited Pakistan in 2008, but due to political tensions, India has not travelled there since. Do you believe mixing politics with sports is a good idea ? What’s your opinion on this?”

3. Patel, however, clarified that the matter lies between India and Pakistan. He stated, “As it relates to relations between India and Pakistan, that’s for them to address, whether through sports or other matters. I’ll leave it to them to speak about their bilateral relationship. It’s not something for us to get involved in, but sports is undoubtedly a powerful and unifying force.”