Islamabad, Pakistan – When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed parliament on July 29, more than two months after the four-day May clash with Pakistan, he hailed India’s military action – dubbed “Operation Sindoor” – as a “victory”, but said it was not over.“Operation Sindoor remains active and resolute,” Modi said during his 102-minute address.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listTwo months later, after India beat Pakistan in a gripping Asia Cup cricket final on September 28, Modi invoked the spectre of war again while congratulating the victors. “Operation Sindoor on the games field. Outcome is the same – India wins! Congrats to our cricketers,” he posted on X.
#OperationSindoor on the games field.
Outcome is the same – India wins!
Congrats to our cricketers.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 28, 2025The message, say analysts, was clear: The Asia Cup, meant to celebrate cricket across the world’s largest continent, had become a battlefield between India and Pakistan, and cricket itself had turned into the latest weapon of war.Modi’s comments capped weeks of bitter acrimony, both on and off the field, that came to dominate a tournament that began amid bitterness. The flashpoint after the final was India’s decision not to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, who is the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chair as well as the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman and, significantly, Pakistan’s federal minister for interior, one of the most powerful civilian positions in the country.“We have decided not to take the Asia Cup trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to be one of the main [political] leaders of Pakistan,” Devajit Saikia, the chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told the Indian news agency ANI after the final. Advertisement The ACC under Naqvi, instead of handing the trophy and winner medals over to the Indian team regardless, took …
