India to invite Pakistan to 2030 CWG: Indian Sports Ministry

India will host Pakistan at the 2020 Commonwealth Games, several Indian media outlets reported on Wednesday.

The decision appears to have come so as not to jeopardize India’s chances of hosting the 2036 Olympics by boycotting Pakistan in international events.

“The Government of India has always been clear in its stand regarding Pakistan’s political enemy in multilateral tournaments. The attitude of the government is fully justified now.

“Boycotting Pakistan would be detrimental to our honorable prime minister’s vision of hosting the Summer Olympics in 2036. We could rule out a blanket ban like Indonesia from the IOC for hosting international events. What happened to them could have happened to us,” the official was quoted as saying by the newspaper, according to First Post. They were also citing Indian Express sources close to the Indian Sports Ministry.

“We are on track to host the Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad in 2030 and again, if we choose not to invite Pakistan, it will weaken our bid for the 2036 Olympics. The government had to bring the eye of many citizens on social media after the Pahalgam terror attack, but the IOC’s decision to ban Indonesia for political interference.”

The decision seems to have been made after the Indonesia case as well.
Indonesia faced sanctions from the International Olympic Committee for barring Israeli athletes from the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta earlier this month.

Pakistan and India have been engaged in a regional war since May 2025. Political tensions were also reflected in the sporting arena when the Indian cricket team refused to shake hands with Pakistani players during the Asia Cup in Dubai. The team was also not presented with the trophy after winning the tournament by Pakistan Cricket Board Chief and Asian Cricket Council President Mohsin Naqvi.

Earlier in October, Reuters reported that the Indian city of Ahmedabad is in a prime position to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030, the Commonwealth Sport Executive Council announced.

The selection of Ahmedabad, also known as Amdavad, will be put forward for full Commonwealth Sport membership, with the final decision to be made at the Commonwealth Sport General Assembly in Glasgow on November 26.

“The Commonwealth Sport Executive Council has today confirmed that it will recommend Ahmedabad, India as the proposed host city for the 2030 Commonwealth Games,” the Executive Council said in a statement.

Ahmedabad is the key city in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state of Gujarat, home to a 130,000-seater arena, which is the largest cricket stadium in the world. The venue was named after the prime minister.