Source/Credit: National Public Radio | AP
By Associated Press | March 30, 2011
The prime ministers of India and Pakistan were mixing politics with pleasure Wednesday, joining tens of thousands of cricket fans in a northern Indian stadium to watch a seminal match between their rival nations.
The attendance of India's Manmohan Singh and Pakistan's Yousuf Gilani at the World Cup semifinal coincides with a resumption in talks toward restoring trust between the nuclear-armed neighbors, who for decades have viewed one another as major threats to their national security.
Gilani said he hoped his visit would improve relations and looked forward to watching an exciting match.
He urged citizens in the two countries to enjoy the performances of both teams — an attempt to mitigate the inevitable disappointment one side will feel in losing the match.
"I am going there to show solidarity with our team, with their team and to promote cricket," Gilani told reporters at a military base outside Islamabad before flying to India along with a 20-member delegation that included many senior ministers.
The prime ministers' meeting was expected to give both men a chance to speak candidly on a range of tense issues without the pressure of public expectations, as all eyes across South Asia were focused on Wednesday's cricket clash.
Singh was also to host a dinner for Gilani on the sidelines of the match in Mohali, in the border state of Punjab.
It is Gilani's first visit to India as prime minister, and echoes a similar effort at so-called "cricket diplomacy" in 2005 when Gen. Pervez Musharraf, then president, joined Singh for a match in New Delhi.
Little was expected from Wednesday's meeting, however, as the nations remain in staunch disagreement over key issues, including the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir, where they maintain heavily armed deployments along a cease-fire line through the mountains.
Both prime ministers also face strong opposition at home to compromising on positions entrenched over decades, while Gilani's civilian government struggles to operate independently from Pakistan's military.
Nevertheless, the meeting marks a tentative return of good will, after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks blamed on Pakistan-based militants led to a suspension in peace talks.
On Tuesday, officials from both sides agreed to a range of small measures to improve trust and cooperation in fighting terrorism, including setting up a hotline between their home secretaries and allowing Indian authorities to visit Pakistan for their investigation into the Mumbai attacks.
Indian newspapers said Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul, would also attend the cricket match — a trip that would underline the governing party's support for the renewal of dialogue with Pakistan. The party refused to confirm the reports for security reasons.
Hours before the match's start, hundreds of people had already taken their seats in the fortified stadium, where hundreds of police and security staff were conspicuously in place. Nearby roads were closed off with multiple checkpoints.
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Associated Press writer Sebastian Abbot contributed to this report from Islamabad.
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