PM Modi invokes conflict with Pakistan after India’s Asia Cup cricket win

To celebrate India’s victory in the Asia Cup final against their regional arch foes, India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has contentiously invoked the conflict with Pakistan in May, which sparked a fifth all-out war.

On the games field, “#OperationSindoor.” India wins, and the outcome is the same! Congratulations to our cricketers,” Modi posted on X on Monday.

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In May, Modi made reference to the four-day conflict between the two countries, with an emphasis on India-administered Kashmir, following an attack that India blamed Pakistan for killing 22 tourists, an accusation Islamabad vehemently refutes.

In response to the attack, Modi declared “Operation Sindoor,” which heightened tensions and caused Pakistan to retaliate. More than 70 people were killed in the brief conflict by missile and drone attacks, with both parties claiming victory.

An Indian naval officer in June acknowledged that the country lost a number of fighter jets to Pakistani fire during their May-torn conflict and that the government had “constraints” placed on Indian forces in New Delhi.

As tensions between India and Pakistan continue to be high, Indian cricket players and Pakistani counterparts have exchanged other insults after refusing to shake hands in the Asia Cup final.

After India defeated Pakistan by five wickets on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Mohsin Naqvi, the country’s interior minister, and the Asia Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi, the country’s interior minister, refused to accept the trophy.

Former New Zealand cricketer and broadcaster Simon Doull announced, citing the ACC, that the Indian team would not be able to collect their awards because of the tensions.

In any of the three matches the two teams played, the Indian team refused to shake hands with the Pakistan team.

Naqvi reportedly refused to leave the award-giving ceremony altogether.

Indian players Tilak Varma, who won the player-of-the-match award, Abhishek Sharma, who won the player-of-the-tournament award, and Kuldeep Yadav, who won the most valuable player award, showed up to accept their individual awards, but did not acknowledge Naqvi.

The only other audience member on stage who did not applaud the Indian trio was the Pakistani official.

Yadav claimed he had “never seen” a winning team deny their trophy during a post-game press conference.

Salman Agha, the captain of Pakistan, claimed that India’s conduct at the tournament was “bad for cricket.”

A good team doesn’t do that, as they did today. Good teams follow our instructions. We waited for and took our medals, Agha said.

Devajit Saikia, the secretary of the Indian cricket board (BCCI), announced that the board would protest Naqvi at its upcoming November meeting of the governing International Cricket Council (ICC).