Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir speaks out against Pakistan

NEW DELHI: Indian batsman and Kolkata Knight Riders' skipper Gautam Gambhir said recently that his country should maintain no ties with Pakistan at all till the current tensions were not resolved between the two nuclear-armed states. 

The Indian cricket team has always been the first to chicken out of a cricketing contest when political relations between India and Pakistan deteriorated. After banning Pakistani artists from working in Indian films, Indian cricketers have also started demonstrating hostility towards Pakistan. Speaking to a reporter from an Indian channel recently, Gautam Gambhir said that according to him, there should be no ties with Pakistan.

"Forget about cricket, there should be no ties at all with Pakistan till cross border terrorism stopped," he said. "It's very easy for me to say from an air-conditioned room that we must not bring politics into sports or art but I think we should think about the Indian soldiers who have lost their lives," he said.

BCCI chief Anurag Thakur had also voiced the same sentiments earlier. 

"In the context of what has happened even considering such a thought (to play with Pakistan) is not appropriate," he had said. 

Relations between both India and Pakistan deteriorated when the Uri attack took place, in which 19 Indian soldiers were killed. India blamed the assault without any proper evidence or investigation on Pakistan, which the latter vehemently denied.