India and Pakistan will clash in Asia Cup 2025 on September 14 in Dubai.
The BCCI made the decision earlier this year not to send the Indian squad to the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Pakistan will not visit India for any competition until at least 2027, including the 2025 Women's World Cup and the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup, the PCB responded.
India had also refused to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup in 2023, but Pakistan sent their team for the World Cup the same year, in hopes that India would come to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025.
However, when BCCI refused to send the Indian team to Pakistan, the PCB refused to replicate the same for the T20 World Cup 2026 and for future tournaments. After a long send-off, it was decided that both teams will clash on neutral venues in ICC and ACC tournaments till 2027.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) owns the hosting rights for this year's Asia Cup, and Naqvi is the current president of the ACC. Any future discussions between India and Pakistan, according to Naqvi, will only take place on equal footing.
“I think we are very clear that whenever talks are held, we will be on an equal footing with India, and there will be no more begging for negotiations. That time has passed, and whatever will happen will be on the basis of equality,” Naqvi said during a press conference in Lahore.
Naqvi's comment comes just days before the start of the 2025 Asia Cup, which will be held in the UAE and will pit India and Pakistan against each other for the second time this year. Additional matches may also be played if both teams advance to the tournament's knockout stage.
India's sports ministry recently announced a new policy that will halt all bilateral sporting connections with Pakistan, including at neutral venues. They can still compete in multinational events, however. This implies that the Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan will proceed as planned.
(First Post inputs)