Salman Khan's viral remark separating Balochistan from Pakistan sparks debate

Actor Salman Khan, while speaking at the Joy Forum 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, described the diverse South Asian communities working in the Middle East and distinguished Balochistan from Pakistan. With Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan also present, Salman stated, "Right now, if you make a Hindi film and release it here (in Saudi Arabia), it will be a superhit. If you make a Tamil, Telugu,



or Malayali film, it will do hundreds of crores in business because so many people from other countries have come here. There are people from Balochistan, there are people from Afghanistan, there are people from Pakistan... everyone is working here."

The comment was widely shared on social media, prompting debate over whether it was a slip or carried a deeper meaning.