CAN INDIA-PAKISTAN SPORTS PROMOTE PEACE? A MCDM APPROACH

Sports is an effective vehicle that is being adopted by almost every country to improve ties with other countries. India and Pakistan share a long border, but do not share a very pleasant history.  Over the years, these two countries have shared a fierce rivalry and no measures that have been taken have had a long-term positive impact on their relationship. None of the attempts at reconciliation have proved to be completely successful, and the relationship remains unbalanced. The factors that can improve the ties between the two countries are numerous, and sports is one of them. The objective of this study is to determine how much of an influence cricket, being the most popular sport in both countries, has on the overall relationship between them. For this purpose, data was gathered from people from both countries through a questionnaire-based survey and then analyzed by MCDM approaches like AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and TOPSIS (Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution). After performing the quantitative analysis, the study hopes to come to a solid conclusion about what people from both countries think about which alternative has the greatest influence on the ties between the two countries, and how the selected factors are influenced by the type of cricket matches played between India and Pakistan.  The positive results obtained from this research could be of great importance for the governments as well as for the people of both countries. This can divert the minds of people and politicians from all the controversies and wars in the past, and help move towards more healthy competition on the sports field.