Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi has come up with another reaction on India's no-handshake policy, saying that his country’s teams won’t ‘back down’ against the BCCI, irrespective of the opponents ‘attitude. His statement came a few days after Pakistan defeated India to lift the U-19 World Cup 2025 title.

Since the Asia Cup 2025 in September, both the Indian men's and women's teams have refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts during international matches. The gesture is reportedly a show of solidarity with the victims of the Pahalgam attack in April. The Men in Blue maintained their stance recently during the U19 Asia Cup earlier this month.

Naqvi, who also serves as the Interior Minister of Pakistan, clarified that the PCB has no intention to initiate handshakes or other formal gestures with India.

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"Our belief remains the same even today, and believe me, the Prime Minister himself has told me twice that we shouldn't let politics come into all of this. From day one, our stance has been that cricket and politics should remain separate. On that day, Sarfaraz must have told you what kind of attitude was shown, and what it was like," said Naqvi.

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Naqvi, who has been making headlines as the head of the Asian Cricket Council as well, went on to say that Pakistan will respect whichever path India chooses to take. "If they don't want to shake hands, then we have no particular desire to do so either. Whatever happens, it will happen on an equal footing with India. And you will see, this approach will continue going forward. It's not possible for them to do one thing and for us to back down - that simply won't happen," he added.

The no-handshake policy was first witnessed during the Asia Cup when the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian team refused to shake hands with the Men in Green. The Indian women’s team followed the same action at the ODI World Cup, as well as the U19 men’s teams during the Asia Cup earlier this month and the Rising Stars Asia Cup in Doha.