Man Mohan invites Zardari and Gilani for to Mohali

Not only the World Cup sporting fortunes of our cricket team in the quarter-final match against Australia were in play, the political fortunes of our relations with Pakistan were at stake too.

Unknown to them, our gallant players were playing for the nation for a cause greater than closing the doors for Australia in the tournament. They were, through their successful exertions in the field, opening the doors of a resumed summit-level engagement between India and Pakistan.

If the spectators in the cricket ground were baying for an Indian win, those at Raisina Hill were praying for the victory of our “Nations Eleven”. Our cricketers were acting as diplomats without knowing it. Cricket diplomacy seems to fascinate us, despite our bitter experience with the last Pakistani practitioner of it.

Exultation over our win has promptly led to an invitation to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and PM Yousaf Raza Gilani to visit Mohali for the India-Pakistan semi-final. The difference between being imaginative and being ad hoc in responses can be sometimes thin. What if India had lost the match against Australia?

Obviously, Z and G would not have been sent friendly missives to visit India. How much of the forward movement in our ties with Pakistan depended on the unpredictable results of a cricket match! If this is the fluidity of the underlying dynamics of our approach toward Pakistan, how can we build a solid policy towards that country?