India had no talks regarding ICC Champions Trophy during SCO meeting in Pakistan

India have refuted the claims of any discussions regarding cricket and the ICC Champions Trophy in particular during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Islamabad. For the first time in nine years, an Indian External Affairs Minister had travelled to Pakistan, and reports had suggested that S Jaishankar had talked with his counterpart Ishaq Dar, who currently serves as Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, regarding cricket.

It turns out that wasn’t the case. Although Jaishankar did briefly interact with Ishaq twice during the dinner hosted by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister’s House on Tuesday night and at a lunch on Wednesday afternoon, they didn’t converse about cricket. Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi, who’s Pakistan’s Interior Minister as the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), was also present there, and reports suggested Jaishankar talked with him regarding the ICC Champions Trophy.

“Whether any conversation regarding cricket happened or not, I would say nothing of that sort happened. And the reports that you saw were not accurate,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing while responding to a question.