Don't mix politics with sports: BJP

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Asking government to realise that cricket diplomacy has not worked, BJP on Thursday said though it favours good relations with Pakistan, it was against politics being mixed with sports.

The party also insisted that there should be no composite dialogue with Pakistan until it takes steps to stop terrorism being sponsored from its soil.

"BJP has always favoured good relations with Pakistan and our neighbouring countries. But we see politics and cricket differently," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters here.

He said that the UPA government should learn lessons from the past and realise that cricket diplomacy does not work.

He cited the case of 2005 when a similar exercise was undertaken but "in 2006 there were bomb blasts in Mumbai".

In 2005, Singh had invited then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to Delhi to watch a cricket match between the two countries. A year later, on July 11, 2006 a series of blasts took place in suburban trains in Mumbai.

It is suspected that Pakistan-sponsored Lashkar-e-Toiba was involved in the attacks.

In Chennai, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who is campaigning for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, said, "Let the game be game. Dialogue diplomacy should be separated from cricket".

Hussain asked the government to come clear on whether Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had given any assurance to India during his visit to watch the Indo-Pak World Cup semi-final at Mohali.

"India had said composite dialogue with Pakistan would only take place if the latter stops sponsoring of terrorism from its soil. Has the government got any assurance from Pakistan that it will not allow terrorism from its soil,” Hussain asked.

He alleged that the culprits of Mumbai terror attack of 2008 were still roaming free and Pakistan had not taken any action against them in their country.

"Pakistan has not shown any goodwill towards India. When Gilani came here he did not hand over the Mumbai attackers," Hussain said.

The principal opposition has maintained that India should start a dialogue with Pakistan only after certain conditions are met, including action on the two dossiers provided by New Delhi pertaining to 26/11.

BJP, led by its senior leader L K Advani, has insisted that dialogue by any name- be it comprehensive or composite- will not bear any fruit unless Pakistan mends its ways on "encouraging terrorism" from across the border.