The Government of India has spoken, and its message is a glaring admission that its national pride is only for show. The country's federal sports ministry has declared that Pakistani athletes may compete in multilateral events hosted on Indian soil, but any bilateral contest between the two nations remains strictly forbidden. This is because India refuses to allow athletes from a country that it accuses of funding terrorism that has killed hundreds of Indian soldiers and civilians, as it would dishonour those victims. But the same Indian government would happily allow cheerleaders to dance on the graves of those victims if it came with an Olympics, a World Cup, or even a sizeable broadcasting rights contract.
For context, India is desperate to land Olympic hosting rights in 2036, and has already been slapped down by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for refusing visas to Pakistani athletes. Mind you, unlike the International Cricket Council, India does not own the IOC. India's rejection of Pakistan just makes its athletes seem unsportsmanlike, and its political leaders seem incompetent. Only the latter can be considered objectively true. If they hate Pakistan so much, they should ban us outright. Refuse to share a field, a dressing room, or a stadium with any Pakistani athletes. Be willing to be stripped of every hosting right, every high profile tournament, every dollar of sponsorship revenue. Why sell out national honour for a bit of money? Sports can be a bridge or a battlefield, but not both at the same time. If India cannot stomach a bilateral series against Pakistan, it should muster the courage to walk out on every format and accept the consequences.
It is also worth noting that India has a snowball's chance in hell of getting the Olympics. The IOC actually considers athletes' well-being before awarding events, and will not consider venues with pollution problems. Beijing, which had to take drastic measures in 2008 to bring its air pollution levels down to acceptable levels, has better air on a bad day than Ahmadabad, India's proposed host city, does on most good days.
