Pahalgam attack victim's daughter calls for boycott of India-Pak Asia Cup match
Pune, Sep 14 (PTI): Asavari Jagdale, whose father Santosh Jagdale was one of the 26 people who lost their lives in the Pahalgam terror attack, called for the boycott of the India-Pakistan Asia Cup cricket match scheduled to be held in Dubai on Sunday.
India and Pakistan will face off on Sunday evening in what will be the first match between the traditional rivals since the escalation of the border conflict in May, when India struck terror infrastructure in the neighbouring country following the Pahalgam attack on April 22.
According to the government’s new sports policy, India will not play bilateral contests against Pakistan, but will continue to face them in multilateral tournaments such as the ongoing Asia Cup and ICC events.
Talking to PTI, Asavari said, "I feel that today's match should not take place. Just over five months ago, the Pahalgam attack claimed 26 lives. And after all this, if the BCCI still thinks that they should go ahead with the match, then it is wrong."
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Asavari was at Baisaran Valley with her parents when terrorists gunned down her father and their family friend, Kaustubh Ganbote.
She said that allowing the match would amount to playing with the emotions of the victims' families.
"I feel deep shame for those who are ready to play, those who organise the game, and those who will cheer this evening, forgetting the Pahalgam attack, the sacrifices of soldiers, and countless such attacks over the years," she said.
Her comments have come amid the Shiv Sena (UBT) making a similar demand, terming the scheduled cricket match as an "insult to national sentiments".
Asavari said the true mark of respect would be to stand with those who sacrificed for the nation instead of those who sponsor terror.
"We should boycott the match. People should refrain from watching it. By watching, we will indirectly fund terror or support a terrorist country that has blood on its hands," she said.
She further said that snapping trade ties and suspending the Indus Water Treaty was not enough, and India should stop playing matches with Pakistan altogether.
Asavari expressed surprise that cricketers, hailed as heroes in the country, were ready to play despite the reality of Pahalgam and other terror attacks.
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Trump says he called off dispatching envoys to Iran talks
Dubai (PTI): US President Donald Trump said he told his top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner not to travel to Pakistan to negotiate with Iran, stating on Fox News that "they can call us any time they want”.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports. Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade,” to allow a new round of negotiations, according to the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies in Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Pakistan on Saturday evening, two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Araghchi is expected back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday.
Trump said Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House. The meeting was the second high-level negotiation between the two countries this month. The initial 10-day ceasefire had been due to expire Monday.
The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil.
The move announced Friday is part of the administration's threat to impose secondary sanctions on entities doing business with Iran in an effort to cut off Iran's oil exports, which are a key source of its revenue.
Airlines worldwide have begun cancelling flights as the war in the Middle East strains jet fuel supplies and pushes up prices. Experts have offered information to travelers about what to do if a flight is cancelled.
Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports, according to Iranian media.
Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade”, to allow a new round of negotiations, the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies reported.
The Pakistani premier described the call as a “warm and constructive discussion”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi concluded a one-day trip to Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Saturday after meeting with Pakistani military and government officials.
The trip did not produce a breakthrough in efforts to relaunch negotiations after US President Donald Trump canceled a planned trip by his envoys to Islamabad.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will return to Pakistan after his current visit to Oman on his way to visiting Russia.
The report said he was expected to be back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday and would join other members of his delegation who had gone to Tehran for consultations and “instructions on the topics related to the end of the war.”
