Cricket diplomacy grips House

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
Cricket diplomacy grips House
Both PMs will address bilateral issues, hope legislators
Archit Watts/TNS

Jammu, March 29
The cricket diplomacy between India and Pakistan gripped the Legislative Council here today, as a number of legislators welcomed the decision of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to invite his Pakistan counterpart to see the Cricket World Cup semifinal at Mohali in Punjab. They hoped it would lead to some solution to the Kashmir issue.

The legislators praised the resumption of bilateral dialogue by the two countries. The Leader of the PDP in the Upper House, Murtaza Ahmad Khan, said, “The Prime Ministers of the two countries will not only watch the match, but also discuss the bilateral issues”.

On this, PDP legislator Nizam-ud-Din Khatana, in a lighter vein, said, “Both Prime Ministers will be fixing it”. Murtaza had moved a private member’s resolution saying the House resolved that for an honest endeavour to resolve the Kashmir issue, the Government of India must enter into a meaningful and result-oriented dialogue with all stakeholders, including Pakistan.

However, the resolution was dropped when the Leader of the House, RS Chib, said the Centre was already trying to resolve all issues with Pakistan. “The resolution is meaningful and I don’t find anything wrong in it. But the cricket match is a classic example, as our Prime Minister has invited his Pakistan counterpart. I mean to say that our Prime Minister is very keen on having talks with Pakistan in the interest of the people of our state,” said Chib. He added that the resolution should be dropped.

Participating in the discussion, Mohammad Yusuf Taing, legislator of the NC, ‘wrongly’ said, “We are sure that the Prime Minister will discuss the Kashmir issue, as we are surrounded by three powers”.

On this, Syed Asgar Ali of the PDP said, “I can understand two powers, Pakistan and China. But, fail to understand the third one”.