Pakistan bans all cultural exchanges with India

Islamabad: The Pakistan government has launched a national slogan “Say No to India” and decided to ban all cultural exchanges with New Delhi including all kinds of joint ventures in the entertainment industry of the two countries, the media reported on Friday. The slogan was launched by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Thursday, Dawn News reported.

“All kinds of Indian content have been stopped and Pemra (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) has been directed to step up its vigilance in this regard along with actions against the sale of Indian DTH instruments,” Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Thursday.

Talking to media persons at a reception hosted by her, she said the move was in the wake of the Indian government’s decision to scrap Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The Special Assistant added the media that the National Security Council had decided to establish a



group to check on any kind of Indian content.

“The external communications will be dealt with by the ministry of information, Foreign Office and the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) as per nature of information,” Awan said. The government has also banned the screening of Indian films in the country’s cinemas, reports Dawn news. “No Indian film will be screened in any Pakistani cinema. Drama, films and Indian content of this kind will be completely banned in Pakistan,” Awan said in a tweet.

This is not the first time that a ban on Indian content has been imposed. Earlier in February, the Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association had boycotted Indian films and announced that no Indian movie would be released in the country as a retaliation to Indian fighter jets bombing a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror launch-pad in Balakot area in Khyber-Pakhtunhkwa province. Pemra was also instructed by the government to act against advertisements that were made in India.