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New Delhi: The Sports ministry said it won’t stop the Indian cricket team from participation in the Asian Cup next month, after unveiling a policy on the country’s international engagements with Pakistan.

As per this policy that is effective immediately, India and Pakistan won’t engage in any bilateral sporting contests but the cricket team will be permitted to face them in multi-lateral events like the Asia Cup.

“India’s approach to sports events involving Pakistan reflects its overall policy in dealing with that country,” the ministry policy states.

“In so far as bilateral sports events in each other’s country are concerned, Indian teams will not be participating in competitions in Pakistan. Nor will we permit Pakistani teams to play in India.”

But in multilateral events, India’s engagement will not be affected as it might incur international sanctions.

“We will not stop Indian cricket team from playing in Asia Cup as it is multilateral,” a ministry source told PTI.

“But Pakistan will not be allowed on Indian soil for bilateral competitions. But we will not stop them from multilateral events as we will abide by Olympic Charter.”

India and Pakistan haven’t played in a bilateral cricket series since 2008 but continue to face each other in ICC events.

Pakistan faced India in Ahmedabad in the ODI World Cup in 2023, but India refused to return the favour for the Champions Trophy in Febraury-March.

In case of Indian teams needing to travel to Pakistan for multi-lateral competitions, the ministry source said, “In that scenario, we will examine the case before deciding anything.”

“Even in multi-lateral events, we can’t leave our athletes in lurch. After all it’s a country that has no hesitation in declaring that its a dumpster and can hit the shining Mercedes that is India,” he added.