The conflict between India and Pakistan has existed since 1947, when the British colonial power withdrew from the region. For many, the conflict seems unsolvable. What can football do that politics hasn't been able to achieve in the last 71 years?

Clifton Grover: I don't want to exaggerate the importance of football. But for me it represents a universal language. The football field offers children a safe place for playful encounters. We need that to get something started. But, of course, just because I'm playing some football somewhere doesn't mean something marvellous automatically happens. That's why we use street football as an educational approach in "Kick for Tolerance".

What exactly does that mean?

Grover: The method we use is called "football3". Our project is all about encounter, diversity and dialogue. And about experiencing and recognising the value of difference. Fair play is more important than the number of goals scored. At the beginning of each match, the children negotiate common rules. For example, a classic fair play rule is that the first goal must be shot by a girl. In the heat of the moment this rule is often forgotten. But boys learn very quickly what matters if their goals don't end up counting.

How did you come up with the idea of "Kick for Tolerance"?

Grover: My father was born in Lahore, in today's Pakistan. Like many families, his family was expelled from their homeland for religious reasons when he was a child during the partition in 1947. The division of India and Pakistan was very bloody and traumatic. The effects are still felt today.

Partition of India: The way forward

On 15 August 1947, British India split into two nations – Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. The two countries continue to be hostile towards each other despite some efforts to improve bilateral ties. By Shamil Shams

Birth of two nations: in 1947, British India was divided into two countries – India and Pakistan. Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah and his All-India Muslim League party had first demanded autonomy for Muslim-majority areas in the undivided India and only later a separate country for Muslims. Jinnah believed that Hindus and Muslims could not continue to live together, as they were distinctly different "nations"

The line of blood: the partition of British India was extremely violent. Following the birth of India and Pakistan, violent communal riots began in many western areas, mostly in Punjab. Historians say that more than a million people died in clashes and millions more migrated from Indian territory to Pakistan and from the Pakistani side to India

The 1948 war: India and Pakistan clashed over Kashmir soon after their independence. The Muslim-majority Kashmir region was ruled by a Hindu leader, but Jinnah wanted it to be part of Pakistani territory. Indian and Pakistani troops fought in Kashmir in 1948, with India taking control of most part of the valley, while Pakistan occupied a smaller area. India and Pakistan continue to clash over Kashmir

Like U.S. and Canada? Liberal historians say that Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi wanted cordial ties between newly independent states. Jinnah, for instance, believed that ties between India and Pakistan should be similar to those between the US and Canada. But after his death in 1948, his successors followed a collision course with New Delhi

The 'other': Indian and Pakistani governments present very different accounts of partition. While India emphasises the Indian National Congress' freedom movement against British rulers – with Gandhi as its main architect – Pakistani textbooks focus on a "struggle" against both British and Hindu "oppression". State propaganda in both countries paints each other as an "enemy" that cannot be trusted

Worsening ties: diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan have remained acrimonious for the past seven decades. The issue of Islamist terrorism has marred relations in the last few years, with New Delhi accusing Islamabad of backing Islamist jihadists to wage a war in India-administered Kashmir. India also blames Pakistan-based groups for launching terror attacks on Indian soil. Islamabad denies these claims

The way forward: many young people in both India and Pakistan are urging their governments to improve bilateral ties. Islamabad-based documentary filmmaker Wajahat Malik believes the best way for India and Pakistan to develop a closer relationship is through more interaction between their peoples. "Trade and tourism are the way forward for us. When people come together, the states will follow suit"

Because of my family roots, the conflict has always been an issue for me. But the decisive impetus for the project came to me in Poland. In 2012, I travelled for the "Kick for Life" Foundation, for which I was working full-time, to a street football festival of "Football for Hope", a FIFA companion programme.

At the time, the European Championship was being held in Poland and Ukraine. At the festival in Wroclaw I met a team of Israeli and Palestinian children. They radiated incredible energy and friendship. It really made an impression on me. Since then, it's been my dream to get Indian and Pakistani children playing street football together.

And then you founded the sponsoring association?

Grover: Yes, exactly. I thought if such a thing is possible in Israel and Palestine, then there's no reason it shouldn't be possible in India and Pakistan. Some people back then said: forget it; it won't work. But I believed in the project. So in 2013 I travelled to India and Pakistan and looked for partners. Back in Germany, I founded a sponsoring association and then, in 2016, the project finally kicked off, thanks to pledges of support from ifa and the Robert Bosch Foundation.