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The escalating cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan have left the sports arena also in a fix, be it in cricket or other sports like hockey. However, with the things coming back to normalcy, fans are eagerly awaiting the return of India versus Pakistan clashes across sports. While there have been talks of India taking on Pakistan in the Asia Cup in September 2025, the Pakistan hockey team is also set to travel to India for the upcoming tournaments.
With India hosting the Hockey Men’s Asia Cup 2025 and Junior World Cup 2025, Pakistan’s senior and junior men’s hockey teams have finally given a green signal to travel to India days after citing a hiccup in the process. A source close to the development in the Sports Ministry confirmed the development on Thursday, July 3.
Pakistan senior and junior teams given clearance to travel to India for international tournaments
With the Men’s Asia Cup scheduled to be played from August 27 to September 7 in Rajgir, Bihar and the Junior Men’s World Cup set to be played from November 28 to December 10 in Chennai and Madurai, the teams have been given clearance to travel to India. A member of the Sports Ministry informed, as quoted by PTI, “We are not against any team competing in India in a multi-national competition. If we try to stop Pakistan, it would be seen as a violation of the Olympic Charter. But bilateral is different, and there will be no relaxation on that front.”
This comes after the bilateral sporting ties between the two countries were put to a standstill, especially cricket after the Pahalgam terror attacks. However, as per the Olympic Charter, the host countries are expected to allow participation of all qualified nations in multi-sport or multi-nation events.
“We won’t be stopping them from participating in multinational tournaments India is hosting,” a source stated as quoted by the Indian Express. “Stopping any nation from participating in international tournaments due to border conflicts violates the Olympic charter, and it is not a good representation of India. For instance, Russia and Ukraine are at war, but they show up at multinational events and compete as well. We are just following the standard norm,” the source further added.
