— The decades-old rivalry between India and Pakistan moves back onto the cricket pitch Wednesday in a match that brings the Pakistani prime minister to India on a rare visit that may even nudge the nuclear-armed neighbors a step closer to peace.
Amid a surge of good will ahead of a blockbuster World Cup semifinal, officials on both sides of the border have said the so-called “gentleman’s game” could help renew diplomatic cooperation and revive peace efforts frozen after the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks that India blames on Pakistan-based Islamist militants.
Love of cricket — bequeathed to both countries by South Asia’s British colonial rulers — is one of the few things that Pakistan and India can usually agree on, despite a long history of mutual animosity that has fueled three wars since the region’s bloody partition of 1947.
Ordinary life will stop for several hours in both countries Wednesday as hundreds of millions of fans tune in to follow the India-Pakistan semifinal in the northern Indian city of Mohali.
Seizing the moment for a bit of sports diplomacy, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani said they would watch the match together at Mohali, in Singh’s home state of Punjab. They will then hold talks over dinner, officials said.
Few expect any breakthroughs beyond showing the world that the two leaders are willing to engage in dialogue.
“The entire attention of the people of the two countries will be on the match,” said Pakistan’s former foreign secretary, Shamsad Khan. “I don’t expect anyone will have much interest in the meeting … it’s basically chit chat.”
