• India refuse to collect Asia Cup trophy from ACC Chief Naqvi.
• Dragging war into sport disgraces spirit of game: Mohsin Naqvi
• Salman Agha slams India’s ‘disappointing’ conduct in Asia Cup.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Chief Mohsin Naqvi has strongly criticised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “dragging war into sport”, saying that such remarks undermine the spirit of the game.

Hitting back at Modi, Naqvi, who is also the country’s interior minister, said history has already recorded India’s humiliating defeats at Pakistan’s hands in the battlefield and cautioned that politicising sport with conflict reflected desperation rather than pride.

“If war was your measure of pride, history already records your humiliating defeats at Pakistan’s hands. No cricket match can rewrite that truth. Dragging war into sport only exposes desperation and disgraces the very spirit of the game,” Naqvi said in a post on X. 

The statement came in response to Modi’s illogical tweet after India’s win over Pakistan in Sunday’s Asia Cup 2025 final, where the Indian premier had equated the cricket victory to “Operation Sindoor” to congratulate his players, only to invite widespread condemnation that the remark militarises a sporting event. 

Taking a jibe at the Indian leader, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also joined the criticism, saying that Modi was destroying the culture and spirit of cricket for political gain, thereby diminishing chances of peace and conflict resolution in the subcontinent.

“Modi is ending the possibilities of peace and solutions to issues in the subcontinent to save his politics by destroying the culture and spirit of cricket. Honour cannot be regained this way. The score of the Pak-India war, 6-0, has been engraved on stone. We are not saying anything but Modi has been humiliated in India and as well as in the entire world,” Asif wrote on X. 

Modi faced criticism for his tweet not only by Pakistani leaders, but also by the people in his own country. Social media users and commentators, even from Indian, quickly condemned the comparison. Critics say equating a cricket match with a military operation risks politicising sport and undermining the game’s spirit.

Reacting to the move, a journalist wrote on X: “A prime minister declaring Cricket Match equal to war. Just because India lost the war to Pakistan, they need anything just anything to compensate for that loss.”

“Equating a cricket win with #OperationSindoor, where our soldiers laid down their lives, is deeply disrespectful,” wrote another user on X while taking a dig at Modi. 

Asia Cup trophy debacle

Earlier, the closing ceremony of the ACC Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 ended in controversy on Sunday after the Indian cricket team declined to collect the winners’ trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi, who also heads the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

India had earlier defeated Pakistan by five wickets in a tense final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium,

However, the post-match presentation was delayed after the Indian side refused to accept the trophy from Naqvi, damaging the gentleman’s game.

The ceremony concluded without the traditional handover, marking an unusual end to the tournament. No customary handshakes were exchanged between players, continuing a pattern from earlier matches where political undercurrents and heightened tensions were evident.

“I have been informed by the ACC that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight. So that does conclude the post-match presentation,” says presenter Simon Doull.

Pakistan skipper Salman Agha said India’s actions during the tournament had been “bad for cricket”.

“I think what has happened in this tournament is very disappointing,” Agha told reporters.

“If they think they disrespected us by not shaking hands, then I say they disrespected cricket.

“It’s been seen for the first time. I do not know where it will stop. What has happened in this tournament is bad for cricket.”

Agha further said that the team would donate their Asia Cup final match fees to families of civilians and children killed in the May Indian attacks.

The Asia Cup marked the first cricketing contest between the two sides since their military confrontation in May, with off-field politics repeatedly overshadowing on-field competition.

— With additional input from AFP

It is easy to forget that the European Union is not just a remote bloc of 27 countries but Pakistan’s second-largest trading partner and, by far, our single biggest export destination.

In 2023, bilateral trade between Pakistan and the EU hovered around 12 billion euros, with Pakistani exports benefitting from preferential access under the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+). For many exporters in Sialkot, Faisalabad and Karachi, Europe is not a distant market but a lifeline.

Yet despite this heavy reliance, our economic relationship remains narrow and transactional. It is dominated by a handful of sectors and beset by compliance costs as European regulations on environment, labour and product safety become ever more stringent. Investment flows from Europe remain modest, and Pakistani companies have done little to integrate themselves into EU value chains beyond basic manufacturing.

If Pakistan is serious about diversifying its exports, attracting sustainable foreign direct investment and retaining its place in European markets, it must move beyond ad hoc lobbying and embrace a deeper, more structured conversation with Brussels and with European business. That is precisely what the EU-Pakistan Business Forum was conceived to do.

The forum, sometimes referred to as the EU-Pakistan Business Network or EU-PKBF, was designed as a high-level platform to bring together government, private sector, and institutional actors from both sides. Its goal: strengthen economic ties, stimulate investment and foster constructive dialogue on trade, regulatory and sectoral challenges.

The inaugural high-level edition was planned for May 2025 under the theme ‘Stronger Together’, with plenary sessions on trade and investment, sectoral breakouts on agribusiness, technology and green logistics, and direct B2B and B2G matchmaking. It also envisioned the launch of an EU-Pakistan Business Network to serve as a continuous bridge between European companies and their Pakistani counterparts. Although the event has been postponed due to geopolitical tensions, the concept behind it remains sound and urgent.

Why does this matter? Because such a forum can serve multiple functions simultaneously. First, it provides a structured policy interface where Pakistani exporters and European importers can voice real-time challenges around customs, standards, digital trade or sustainability requirements. This helps regulators on both sides prioritise reforms and align rules, rather than letting businesses bear the cost of misalignment.

Second, by pre-identifying bankable projects and investment opportunities, the forum can transition from discussion to actual deal-making and joint ventures. Third, through its proposed business network, it can institutionalise continuity, track progress and advocate for reforms long after the closing ceremony. And fourth, it offers a stage to showcase innovation and priority sectors, green technologies, digital services, logistics, agribusiness and the circular economy, where Pakistan can move up the value chain and plug into the EU’s future growth areas.

In other words, the forum is not just another conference; it is a potential fulcrum for turning a transactional relationship into a strategic partnership. But potential is not the same as impact. To realise these benefits, Pakistan must prepare seriously.

That preparation starts with substance. Bankable projects need to be packaged with clear financials, risk profiles and investor protections, ideally linked to EU instruments like Global Gateway or the European Fund for Sustainable Development. Our exporters must understand and plan for forthcoming EU regulations, from carbon border adjustments to due diligence requirements, and use the Forum to co-design transition pathways.

The government should set up a joint secretariat or task force with chambers of commerce and the EU delegation to ensure that recommendations are monitored and implemented. Participation must be inclusive, extending beyond big capital to SMEs, provinces and underserved regions, so that gains are broad-based rather than captured by a few.

We also need to reframe how we talk about Europe. Too often, Pakistani commentary on the EU is reactive, focusing on conditionalities attached to GSP+ or resolutions on human rights. Yet those conditionalities are not going away; in fact, they will intensify as Europe embeds sustainability and rights-based due diligence into its trade policy.

The question is whether Pakistan uses a forum like EU-PKBF to shape those expectations in a way that is realistic for our firms, or whether we allow ourselves to be blindsided by rule changes announced from Brussels. This is particularly relevant in sectors like textiles, where carbon accounting, chemical restrictions and circularity requirements are becoming the norm. If Pakistani firms cannot meet these evolving standards, they will be excluded despite preferential tariffs.

There are, of course, risks beyond regulation. Geopolitical volatility has already derailed one planned event. Implementation gaps, regulatory ambiguity and domestic instability could reduce the Forum to a talk shop. The EU has made it clear that GSP+ benefits hinge on continued progress in human rights, labour rights and media freedom; policy drift could jeopardize access to European markets. For Brussels, consistency on rights is now part of commercial policy. For Islamabad, that should be a cue to take reforms seriously, not an excuse to disengage.

None of these obstacles is insurmountable. In fact, they are precisely why a structured, high-profile platform matters. The EU-Pakistan Business Forum can help both sides confront uncomfortable truths in a businesslike setting: Europe needs stable, diversified suppliers in an era of geopolitical de-risking; Pakistan needs market access, investment and technology transfer to climb the value chain. If executed with strategic rigour and sustained follow-through, the Forum can elevate bilateral engagement from opportunistic trade to a genuine economic partnership, facilitate new investment flows and innovation linkages, help Pakistan diversify its exports and align with global sustainability norms, and provide a credible mechanism for structured public-private cooperation.

The opportunity is larger than commerce. A vibrant EU-Pakistan business corridor can serve as a counterweight to overdependence on a single geography, enhance our negotiating leverage with other partners and signal to investors that Pakistan is committed to reform and connectivity. It can also anchor dialogue on issues like digital trade, renewable energy, gender inclusion in supply chains and skills development, all areas where European firms bring experience and Pakistan brings scale.

But the keyword is ‘can’. Forums do not transform economies; people and policies do. To make the EU-Pakistan Business Forum more than a symbolic gesture, Islamabad will need to treat it not as a photo-op but as part of a larger economic statecraft strategy, one that links regulatory reform at home to market access abroad and embeds business diplomacy into our foreign policy. Brussels, for its part, will need to see Pakistan not merely as a compliance case but as a partner capable of contributing to European objectives on sustainability, connectivity and diversification.

In a period of economic uncertainty and geopolitical flux, Pakistan cannot afford to let this opportunity slip into symbolism. The EU-Pakistan Business Forum presents an opportunity to transform trade into a genuine partnership. If we seize it with preparation, openness and a clear narrative of reform, it can become a durable pillar of Pakistan’s economic diplomacy. If we treat it as yet another event on the calendar, it will fade into the long list of missed opportunities. The choice and the responsibility are ours.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this piece are the writer’s own and don’t necessarily reflect Geo.tv’s editorial policy.

The writer is a public policy expert and leads the Country Partner Institute of the World Economic Forum in Pakistan. He tweets/posts @amirjahangir and can be reached at: [email protected]

Originally published in The News

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are devastated as their parents are dragged into new defamation scandal.

Daughters of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, who have found their parents in a scandalous association to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, are torn over the revelation.

Royal expert Jennie Bond told the Mirror: “As for Beatrice and Eugenie, anyone with a heart must surely feel sorry for them. It seems they have had to witness their parents’ public humiliation time and again. And that must be incredibly hard when you love someone.”

Jennie said: “There’s no doubt that Sarah has been a brilliant mother to her girls, and they will protect her and love her through thick and thin. And that’s just as well, because this really is worse than anything Sarah has been through before. And I fear there is more to come.”

Meanwhile, expert Richard Fitzwilliams told the publication: “The Duchess of York’s disgrace is huge news, however, and likely to cause Beatrice and Eugenie enormous personal hurt. The Yorks have always been a close-knit family. However, their closeness to their parents is likely to mean that they are not involved, at least for a period, probably a considerable period, in new charitable projects.

“This will be a deeply painful period for the sisters as their parents are both likely to languish in public disgrace and foreseeably so,” he noted.