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The idea of Pakistan and India on the same side of anything is simply unthinkable if not highly improbable. But often at times, the arts and sports have a way of bridging this wide chasm of mutual distrust and heightened tension; of building bridges between two neighbours with a fractious relationship; to exult and cheer in a moment of triumph and victory.

Pakistan has been going through a lot in the last two or three years from all the terrorist attacks, the flooding for the last few months and the cricket scandal in the last few weeks. India too is grappling with its doping and CWG scams and IPL shenanigans. As far as sport is concerned there has not been much to cheer about for either country.

With three wars behind them and a constant state of suspicion, sniping and snubbing, the two frosty neighbours, India and Pakistan, had something to cheer about — ironically, together — at the Flushing Meadows this week when India’s Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan’s Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi cruised to their maiden Grand Slam final defeating Argentina’s Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zaballos 7-6(5), 6-4 in the US Open tennis men’s doubles semi-finals.

It was a historic win — in more ways than one. For one, and significantly so, the doubles team, known famously as the ‘Indo-Pak Express’, rolled on to convincingly reach the US Open final on Wednesday. The winning match, more importantly, brought the United Nations ambassadors of the two nations from their everlasting sparring to Flushing Meadows to sit in the stands together, cheering and rooting for their win, reinforcing the message the duo of Bopanna and Qureshi so actively want to spread to ‘Stop War, Start Tennis’.

“This is sports, but it shows the great potential,” India’s ambassador, Hardeep Puri said.

“There’s always the potential,” the Pakistani ambassador, Abdullah H. Haroon, repeated. “Hardeep and I are in the New York area and we’re always looking for avenues to open and this is a magnificent one. The message going back to Pakistan is: here is a team seeded 16th, and they’re in the finals for the first time at the US Open. That’s great news.”

Bopanna and Qureshi beat Schwank and Zeballos to move one win away from the championship. It’s their best showing in a Grand Slam after a quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon earlier this year. Bopanna and Qureshi won last month against Bryan and Bryan.

So they know anything is possible — a point being driven home on many levels by their tennis partnership. They are meeting Bryan and Bryan again in the final.

“Obviously, it feels like us doing well is getting the message across throughout the world and among all the Pakistanis and Indians,” Qureshi said. “I’ve always said if me and Rohan can get along so well on and off the court, there’s no reason the Indians and Pakistanis can’t get along with each other.”

The pair has been getting a lot of attention world over, coming from neighbouring countries which share a turbulent past and tiring relations at present because of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. It is tennis that brought together the two unlikely partners with Qureshi calling Bopanna his “brother from another mother”.

Bopanna and Qureshi made their presence felt at the international circuit this year with a streak of solid performances. They reached their third tour-level final last week at the Pilot Pen. They were finalists in Nice and Casablanca earlier in the year. The two captured their first ATP World Tour doubles title in Johannesburg in February. They also reached their maiden Wimbledon quarter-final this year.

Commenting on his pairing with Bopanna, Qureshi said it has worked perfectly so far because he shares a warm relationship with the Indian off-court as well. “I always believed if we played consistently on ATP, me and Rohan both as a team, we can do really well on the tour and we can make our mark,” he said.

“And in the last past two or three months we have had I think wins against all the top 10 teams in the world,” said the 30-year-old Bopanna.

“It just shows that I was pretty right about our pairing together, and you know, it would be just a matter of time. I always believe we can do really well in the Grand Slam on the ATP circuit. We just have to block out everyone out there, and, you know, play our game and just focus on the tennis.”

“I actually feel like it’s a dream. Last night I couldn’t sleep till 6 in the morning, and it’s been a great, unbelievable journey. I can’t thank Rohan enough to be my partner and playing with me. I really feel very lucky to have a partner and friend like him,” said Qureshi.

He is hoping that this successful stint will bring some cheer back for the people at home. “I’m just very happy and proud that I can send positive news back home for people to cheer about.”

Need more be said!

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This post was submitted by Mudit Agrawal.