India-Pakistan World Cup semifinals match goes way beyond cricket
(Read article summary)Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani are watching the match together in what is being referred to as an example of 'cricket diplomacy.'
Lahore, Pakistan
As Pakistan takes on neighboring India in the semi-finals of cricket’s World Cup today, much more is at stake than just bragging rights for the billion fans expected to tune in.
Pakistan’s cricketers have not played a match in India since the Mumbai attacks in 2008, which Pakistani officials have admitted were partly planned on their soil. Dialogue between the two nations resumed only last month, and the countries remain locked in a bitter dispute over the Himalayan territory of Kashmir, over which they have fought three wars.
For something approaching a comparison, think: the United States vs. the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics ice hockey match dubbed “Miracle on Ice.”
