Blind women from India and Pakistan brushed aside political tensions on Sunday, shaking hands in neutral Sri Lanka at a cricket tournament for the visually impaired.At what organisers describe as the world’s first blind women’s T20 tournament, players from the two South Asian neighbours showed they had sporting vision even if they lacked sight — unlike their regular national teams.Tensions off and on the field have been high since a deadly military clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May.India’s men refused to shake hands with their Pakistani opponents at the Asia Cup in September, since when neither side has shown signs of making up. That animosity spread to the women’s sides who declined any greeting at the recent T20 World Cup and also to Sunday’s men’s Rising Stars Asia Cup tie in Doha. India’s blind players were expected to mirror the conduct of their sighted teams when there was no handshake after the toss, but at the end of the match both sides warmly greeted each other.The two sides, who travelled to the venue together in the same bus, not only shook hands but also exchanged generous compliments.India won by eight wickets in just 10.2 overs after Pakistan were restricted to 135 for eight in their 20 overs at the Free Trade Zone grounds in Katunayake, 30 kilometres (18 miles) north of Colombo.Pakistan skipper Nimra Rafique congratulated India on their comprehensive victory, while her Indian counterpart T. C. Deepika said Pakistan had played well. The teams applauded one another loudly but neither set of players was permitted to talk to the press.- ‘Biggest opportunity’ -There were hardly any spectators but the match was shown live on Sri Lanka’s national television, Rupavahini. Blind Sri Lankan officials hosting the tournament “watched” the match on YouTube by listening to the commentary.Indian team manager Shika Shetty told AFP before the match that the tournament was opening up opportunities for more women.“This is the first-ever World Cup for blind women… I think this is one of the biggest opportunities for our entire visually impaired girls,” said Shetty, who is not blind.“Maybe many girls with disabilities will come out from their villages. Maybe they will come for studies, maybe they will come for the sport. So it is helpful for other girls too.”Blind cricket relies on a sharp ear, as players must detect a white plastic ball — the size of a tennis ball — filled with ball bearings that rattle as it moves.Pakistan coach Tahir Mehmood Butt, also speaking before the game, said the launch of women’s blind cricket had created new opportunities for young players in Pakistan.“For the totally blind, if they have good hearing, they can become good cricketers,” Tahir told AFP.Each team must field at least four completely blind players, three who can see up to two metres, and four partially sighted players able to see up to about six metres.Totally blind batters may have a partially sighted runner. Bowling is underarm, unlike in the traditional game.Four other nations – Australia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the US — are competing in the tournament which began in India and moved to Sri Lanka for the final stages. The final is scheduled for next Sunday in Colombo.

Indian authorities said on Sunday that a deadly car blast in New Delhi earlier this week was an attack carried out by a “suicide bomber”, announcing the arrest of an accomplice.The National Investigation Agency (NIA), the country’s counter-terrorism law enforcement body, said the alleged attacker and the second suspect were both from Indian-administered Kashmir, where police have carried out sweeping raids in recent days.Announcing “a breakthrough” in the investigation, the NIA said in a statement it had arrested Amir Rashid Ali, “in whose name the car involved in the attack was registered”.He had “conspired with the alleged suicide bomber, Umar Un Nabi, to unleash the terror attack”, it added, without specifying any possible motive.Nabi, a resident of Kashmir, was an assistant professor in general medicine at a university in the northern state of Haryana, according to the counter-terrorism agency, which said it had seized a vehicle belonging to him.Ali had come to Delhi to “facilitate the purchase of the car which was eventually used as a vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (IED) to trigger the blast”, the NIA said.The explosion on Monday took place near a busy metro station close to the landmark Red Fort in the capital’s Old Delhi quarter, where the prime minister delivers the annual Independence Day address.A hospital official has said the blast killed 12 people. It was unclear whether the toll included Nabi.The NIA’s statement said the attack “claimed 10 innocent lives and left 32 others injured”.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called the attack a “conspiracy”, and his government vowed to bring the “perpetrators, their collaborators and their sponsors” to justice.It was the most significant security incident since April 22, when 26 mainly Hindu civilians were killed at the tourist site of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, triggering clashes with Pakistan.Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, and both claim the Himalayan territory in full. Tensions remain high between New Delhi and Islamabad.On Friday, nine people were killed when confiscated explosives blew up at a police station in Indian-administered Kashmir, in what authorities said was an accident.Local media reported that a militant organisation had claimed responsibility for it, which police dismissed.The explosives had been recovered from Haryana state just before the powerful car blast in Delhi, according to the police.Indian media have widely connected the Delhi blast with a string of arrests just hours prior.Police said those arrested were linked with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based and Al-Qaeda-linked group, as well as a Kashmiri offshoot linked to it.The group that claimed the police station blast is considered close to JeM.