Indian government amends visa policy for Pakistan athletes in major sports tournaments

The Government of India has clarified its stance on sporting relationships with its cross-border neighbour, Pakistan, encouraging multilateral participation and relaxing visa guidelines for sports competitions in the country.

An official memorandum released by the Indian Sports Ministry clarifies that ‘Pakistani players and teams will be able to participate in multilateral events hosted by India.’ This ensures smooth participation for teams and athletes from Pakistan in major tournaments in India. Furthermore, Indian teams and individual players will take part in international events that also have teams or players from Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistani players and teams will be able to participate in such multilateral events hosted by India.

It is worth mentioning that sporting relations between the two countries worsened post the Pahalgam attack in April 2025. There was much clamour surrounding India taking on Pakistan in the 2025 Asia Cup and the 2026 T20 World Cup. As a result, Pakistan’s fixtures of the T20 World Cup were played in Sri Lanka. The memorandum further added that, despite this, bilateral collaboration in sport would not be encouraged. 

“Insofar as bilateral sports events in each other’s country are concerned, Indian teams will not be participating in competitions in Pakistan. Nor will we permit Pakistani teams to play in India,” the memorandum said.

New measures highlight simplification of visa procedures

The country has also come under scrutiny due to hurdles in procedures related to acquiring visas for sportspersons, teams and other stakeholders who are from Pakistan or athletes of Pakistani origin. The memorandum stated that visa procedures for ‘sportspersons, team officials, technical personnel, and office-bearers of International Sports Governing Bodies shall be simplified.’

This (simplified visa process) shall facilitate their smooth movement into and within the country, in accordance with international norms,” the memo said.

There was much hubbub in early 2024 when Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir, England cricketers of Pakistani origin, faced delays with their visas ahead of England’s tour of India for a five-match Test Series.