Sports diplomacy in our region

Sometimes a ball does more than a bullet, and a stadium echoes louder than a battlefield.

In this part of the world, where borders often divide and politics sometimes wound, sports carry a rare healing touch.

For Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China three neighbors bound by geography and destiny cricket and football have become more than games. They are moving testaments to hope, friendship, and the spirit of unity.

The rise of Afghan cricket is itself a story written with sweat and dreams.

From the dusty streets and open fields to the glittering stadiums, Afghan cricketers transformed hardship into glory.

Rashid Khan spinning magic, Mohammad Nabi lifting spirits, and Hazratullah Zazai raining sixes – these are not just sporting feats, they are diplomatic messages.

They tell the world that Afghanistan is not defined by its wounds but by its will.

Every time an Afghan batsman faces an international bowler, rivalry becomes a handshake in disguise, proving that a nation that can compete fiercely on the field can also live proudly and peacefully among nations.

Pakistan knows this power of sports better than most. It once turned cricket into a bridge with India, showing that a bat can be mightier than bitterness.

Today, its leagues host Afghan stars, and its fans cheer their brilliance. In return, Afghan youth idolize Pakistani players.

The pitch has become an invisible corridor of diplomacy, carrying more weight than many official agreements.

If cricket is Afghanistan’s international crown, then football is its heartbeat.

From the lanes of Herat to the valleys of Nangarhar, barefooted children chase a ball with dreams that leap higher than mountains.

Football unites Afghans at home and connects them abroad to Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East.

It is the game of the people, a festival of joy in every street corner.

And just across the border, Pakistan too celebrates football with equal passion, while in China, stadiums are being built with a vision of becoming a future football giant.

A goal scored in Kabul, Karachi, or Kunming is more than a strike against a net it is a strike for pride, dignity, and unity across borders.

China’s presence in this story is not confined to roads, railways, or markets.

Under the Belt and Road vision, Beijing has understood that true connectivity is not only about steel and stone but also about spirit and soul.

China’s growing love for football and its openness to sporting exchanges give Afghanistan and Pakistan an opportunity to deepen ties on a softer, human level. Imagine a tri-nation sports festival: cricket in Lahore, football in Kabul, basketball in Beijing.

The trophies would be made of silver, but the real prize would be friendship written into history.

Sports diplomacy is, in truth, the poetry of peace.

A handshake before a toss, a hug after a match, a cheer that drowns political noise these are the gestures that carry more meaning than a hundred declarations. A cricket bat raised in Kabul is a flag of peace in Islamabad, and a football rolling across a Beijing pitch is a messenger of goodwill. When youth in these three nations play, they write a future that diplomats can only dream of.

For the young generation, cricket and football are not games but promises of hope, belonging, and dignity. For governments, they are tools of goodwill, a softer but stronger diplomacy. And for the world, they are proof that this region is not condemned to the narratives of conflict, but destined to be remembered for cooperation and courage.

In an age where the world cries out for bridges instead of walls, cricket and football stand tall as bridges of our region. They carry not only balls and jerseys but also the dreams of millions the possibility of turning rivalry into partnership, and competition into friendship. If politics divides, sports can unite. And in the shared story of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China, the game has only just begun.

Peace in our region may not always begin at the conference table sometimes, it begins with a ball at the center of a field. When players shake hands before a toss or embrace after a match, they write lines of diplomacy that no treaty can capture. In the shared story of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China, the game is more than sport; it is the first chapter of peace.