India and Pakistan will square off in Dubai on February 23.
Aaqib believes this is just another opportunity for his players do the cricketing things they train to do as professionals.
The game will be crucial for both teams in their pursuit of a spot in the semi-final. The Men in Blue have a win under their belt after beating Bangladesh by six wickets. On the other hand, Pakistan will come into the contest under pressure after a crushing defeat to New Zealand by 60 runs and will need to win against India to stay alive in the final-four race.
"For the cricketers, this is a profession. For them, it definitely is an honour. But, it is a profession. You try your best. In that, you sometimes lose as well. It is a match... one team will win, one will lose. How does it matter? Why so much pressure? Every game is different,” Aaqib said in the pre-match presser, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"In a Pakistan-India game, the energy will remain high. And this is the beauty of this contest. What does the crowd do? When you play well, the crowd supports you, they clap their hands. When you play poorly, be it India or Pakistan, the home crowd will go against you. As a player, you shouldn't keep the crowd in mind. We never kept it and neither should these players. What's your focus? Ball, bat - that's it."
Although Pakistan are the designated hosts for the Champions Trophy, they have had to travel to Dubai, where all of India’s matches are scheduled to take place. There have been claims that it is India who are enjoying the home advantage in this competition, but the Pakistan coach dismissed those suggestions.
"There's no advantage [for India] at all, because if you look at all the Pakistani players, they have been playing leagues here. The PSL has been played here. So there's nothing really - there's no advantage or disadvantage," Aaqib stated.
"We also have to see the pitch and the ground here. Are these similar to the one we have in Pakistan or are they different? We will play in accordance with the pitches, conditions and the opposition team," he further remarked.