the two countries respectively. In April 2010 a high-profile Pakistani cricketer, Shoaib Malik married the Indian tennis star Sania Mirza. The wedding received much media attention and was said to transfix both India and Pakistan. Sporting ties Cricket and hockey matches between the two (as well as other sports to a lesser degree such as those of the SAARC games) have often been political in nature. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan General Zia-ul Haq travelled to India for a bout of "cricket diplomacy" to keep India from supporting the Soviets by opening another front. Pervez Musharaff also tried to do the same more than a decade later but to no avail. From 2012, India stopped playing bilateral cricket series against Pakistan. Now it only plays against them in Asian Cricket Council, ICC events such as ODI, T20 world cups etc. In 2017 then Sport minister of India, Vijay Goel said, that Pakistan have to stop sponsoring terrorists, terrorism and sports can not happen together. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also opposed playing with them, citing the reason that, we can not play without the permission of our government. BCCI also do not allow their players to play in IPL. In tennis, Rohan Bopanna of India and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan have formed a successful duo and have been dubbed as the "Indo-Pak Express." Diasporic relations The large size of the Indian diaspora and Pakistani diaspora in many different countries throughout the world has created strong diasporic relations. British Indians and British Pakistanis, the largest and second-largest ethnic minorities living in the United Kingdom respectively, are said to have friendly relations with one another. It is quite common for a "Little India" and a "Little Pakistan" to co-exist in South Asian ethnic enclaves in overseas countries. There are various cities such as Birmingham, Blackburn and Manchester where British Indians and British Pakistanis live alongside each other in peace and harmony. Both Indians and Pakistanis living in the UK fit under the category of British Asian. The UK is also home to the Pakistan & India friendship forum. In the United States, Indians and Pakistanis are classified under the South Asian American category and share many cultural traits. In the US, intermarriage between Indians and Pakistanis is common. The British MEP Sajjad Karim is of Pakistani origin. He is a member of the European Parliament Friends of India