{"id":19319,"date":"2025-09-16T18:04:04","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T18:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=19319"},"modified":"2025-09-16T18:04:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T18:04:04","slug":"tarar-slams-indias-political-theatrics-after-asia-cup-handshake-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=19319","title":{"rendered":"Tarar slams India’s ‘political theatrics’ after Asia Cup handshake row"},"content":{"rendered":"
Information\u00a0Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday criticised the Indian government for politicising cricket amid a growing controversy following the recent Pakistan-India match in the Asia Cup 2025.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the launch of the publication ‘Strategic Reckoning: Perspectives on Deterrence and Escalation Post-Pahalgam \u2013 May 2025’ in Islamabad,\u00a0he called out the Modi-led government of using cricket as a political tool.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Modi regime was trying to politicise the sport of cricket but that was just a failed attempt in saving oneself from embarrassment,\u201d he said. He also cited Pakistan\u2019s military response to recent escalations as a display of its defence capabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cPakistan proved its military dominance by shooting down six planes in defence and then responded to Indian aggression, compelling it to request for a ceasefire,\u201d he claimed. The minister added that such theatrics on the sports field were typical of regimes that were morally compromised.<\/p>\n

Read More: ICC rejects PCB\u2019s complaint against Pycroft amid handshake row<\/p>\n

\u201cA nation which is morally bankrupt and has no values will always resort to this kind of theatrics on the sports field when it is unable to win in the military field,\u201d Tarar said.<\/p>\n

Referring to India\u2019s silence on the Jaffar Express hijacking \u2014 described as one of the worst such incidents in recent memory \u2014 Tarar contrasted Pakistan\u2019s consistent stance on terrorism with what he described as New Delhi\u2019s selective condemnation.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing the victims of terrorism, Pakistan expressed concern over the Pahalgam incident. But on the contrary, New Delhi was reluctant to even condemn the Jaffar Express attack,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Reiterating Pakistan\u2019s commitment to regional peace, he said \u201cPakistan has always been desirous of peace, but whenever put to test, thanks to our valiant armed forces, we’ve passed with flying colours.\u201d He emphasised that Pakistan would continue to play the role of both a \u201cdeterrent\u201d and a \u201cbalancer\u201d in the region.<\/p>\n

Also Read: Saqib wins cross-border praise at Bitcoin Asia Conference<\/p>\n

The controversy emerged after reports that match referee Andy Pycroft had instructed both captains not to shake hands before Sunday\u2019s high-stakes encounter. The move initially went unnoticed but drew attention after Indian players left the field without engaging in the customary post-match handshake.<\/p>\n

Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav further escalated tensions with political remarks after the match, stating: \u201cWe stand with the victims of the Pahalgam attack and their families. We dedicate today\u2019s win to our armed forces.\u201d<\/p>\n

In protest, Pakistan captain Salman Agha declined to attend the post-match presentation hosted by former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, reportedly in response to India\u2019s refusal to participate in the handshake.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Information\u00a0Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday criticised the Indian government for politicising cricket amid a growing controversy following the recent Pakistan-India match in the Asia Cup 2025. Speaking at the launch of the publication ‘Strategic Reckoning: Perspectives on Deterrence and Escalation Post-Pahalgam \u2013 May 2025’ in Islamabad,\u00a0he called out the Modi-led government of using cricket as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}