S Jaishankar, India v Pakistan Champions Trophy
S Jaishankar, India v Pakistan Champions Trophy

The chances of India traveling to Pakistan for ICC Champions Trophy 2025 have increased multifold after India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Muhammad Ishaq Dar met at the SCO meeting in Lahore, Pakistan.

The PCB is actively striving to guarantee that India comes to Pakistan for the forthcoming event, making several recommendations to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

According to reports, the PCB has offered that the BCCI holds India’s group stage matches for the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Lahore, allowing the Indian cricket team to return to their camp after each game to address security concerns.

India hasn’t traveled to Pakistan for cricket since Asia Cup 2008 and last year as well, refused to travel to Pakistan for Asia Cup. This led to India’s matches in the Asia Cup being hosted in Sri Lanka.

S Jaishankar and Muhammad Ishaq Dar meeting signal for India to travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy

During the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference, S. Jaishankar and Muhammad Ishaq Dar had a watershed moment in restoring India-Pakistan cricket ties.

It was the foreign ministers’ first face-to-face talk about the cricket rivalry since 2015. According to reports, the discussions occurred over the course of two informal gatherings that lasted 24 hours.

The first debate took place at a dinner sponsored by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, while the second occurred during a lunch following the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) plenary session.

According to reports, Indian foreign minister Jaishankar, a cricket aficionado, used the occasion to discuss reviving cricket links with Muhammad Ishaq Dar during the meeting. Mohsin Naqvi, Pakistan’s Interior Minister and Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), also provided thoughts throughout the conversations.

A Pakistani journalist from Geo News posted on X: “Foreign Minister of India S. Jaishankar and Deputy PM of Pakistan Ishaq Dar started conversation during the SCO summit with the discussion of cricket, including the Champions Trophy 2025 scheduled in Pakistan. #SCOPakistan.”

However, this is only the beginning of something new between India and Pakistan, and these negotiations could pave the way for the Indian cricket team to visit Pakistan for the first time in nearly two decades, notably for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

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