India slams Pakistan for ‘politicising’ Chess Olympiad

It is highly unfortunate that Pakistan has politicised the prestigious international event, said spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs

While Islamabad decided to withdraw the team the Chess Federation of Pakistan had already sent to participate in the Chess Olympiad being held at Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, India slammed the neighbouring country for "politicising" the sporting event.

Pakistan too accused New Delhi of "politicising" the Chess Olympiad by making the torch relay ahead of the tournament pass through Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Pakistan announced the withdrawal of the team hours before India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, inaugurated the tournament at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in Chennai.

New Delhi responded by turning the table on Islamabad and alleging that it was Pakistan, not India, which was politicising the tournament. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi reiterated that the entire union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) had been, was and would always remain an integral part of India.

Also read: 44th Chess Olympiad gets off to a grand start in Chennai

The latest round of war of words between New Delhi and Islamabad broke out even as both India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari separately arrived in Tashkent to take part in a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) being hosted by the Government of Uzbekistan. Speculation was rife over the past few days, if Jaishankar and Zardari would shake hands and exchange pleasantries or if they would go even to the extent of having a bilateral meeting on the sideline of the SCO meeting.

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) shifted the 44th Chess Olympiad from Russia to India after the former Soviet Union nation launched its military operations in Ukraine. The tournament is now being hosted by All India Chess Federation at Poonjeri in Mamallapuram, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Tamil Nadu, with participation of 186 nations.

Pakistan’s national team of 10 players led by FIDE Master Amir Karim was also expected to take part in the tournament being held in India.

But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Pakistan on Thursday announced withdrawal of the team, alleging that India had chosen to politicise the prestigious international sporting event by passing the torch relay ahead of the tournament through J&K in utter disregard of the “globally acknowledged disputed status” of the territory. “India must know that by such provocative and indefensible actions, it can neither seek nor claim international legitimacy for its unjustifiable, illegal and tyrannical occupation of IIOJK (Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir) continuing for over seven decades,” it said in a statement issued in Islamabad.

Modi, himself, on June 19 flagged off the torch relay which was introduced by the FIDE for the first time ahead of 44th Chess Olympiad.

“It is highly unfortunate that Pakistan has politicised the prestigious international event by making such statements and withdrawing its participation after its team has already reached India,” Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, told journalists in New Delhi.