No India-Pakistan cricket match till they stop sponsoring terrorism: Anurag Thakur

India on Friday said that there would be no sporting event, including cricket matches, with Pakistan till the country stops cross border terrorism. The decision was prompted after the loss of lives of two Army officers - a Colonel and Major - and a senior police officer in the gunbattle with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district. This has further soured relations between India and Pakistan. Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports, Anurag Thakur on Friday said that there would be no India-Pakistan cricket matches until the country ends terrorism. “BCCI has already taken the decision that bilateral matches with Pakistan will not be played by India till they stop cross-border terrorism,” Thakur said. “This is in line with the sentiments of Indian citizens,” he added.

No Indo-Pak bilateral matches until cross-border terror ends: Union Minister Anurag Thakur reiterates BCCI's stand#AnuragThakur #BCCI #IndvsPAK #terror #Pakistan #India #breakingnews pic.twitter.com/AX1uXjWmFO

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The decision confirms that India will have no bilateral series with Pakistan until they agree that terror and talk cannot happen together. There were clamouring calls for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for boycotting the Pakistan cricket team and any match with them after three security personnel were killed while fighting terrorists during an encounter in Anantnag. As per reports, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) offshoot - The Resistance Front - has claimed responsibility for the attack in Anantnag and Kokernag. The terrorist group stated that the attack was an act of revenge for the death of their veteran leader in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) earlier this month. Responding to the anger among Indians, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla told ANI, “…There’s a very clear policy, we don’t play any bilateral series with Pakistan.” He further said that the BCCI demands for strict action against the terrorists. “In the past 20 years, all the government has fought against terrorism…The financial state of Pakistan is very bad and despite that supporting terrorism is neither in their interest nor in the world’s interest.” He added, “We salute the army, and police fighting there and it’s very sad that three officers lost their lives,” Shukla said. Pakistan are already out of Asia Cup. India were scheduled to take on Pakistan in the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup. The much waited India-Pakistan cricket match is scheduled for 14 October at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. With inputs from agencies