Not possible at the moment: Javed Akhtar on Pak artistes working in India

"SHOULD we allow Pakistani artists to work here?" That, lyricist Javed Akhtar said on Tuesday, is the question to be asked in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack.

- RADHIKA SHARMA

There is hardly "any warmth today" in India-Pakistan cultural ties, the veteran screenwriter-poet noted while saying that this is not the time to even think about whether Pakistani artists should be allowed to work in India.

"This could be thought about in better times and hopefully after some years some sense will prevail. And there'll be a better attitude towards India from the establishment of Pakistan. And then this can be considered. But at the moment, this question should not be asked. Not possible," Akhtar told PTI in an interview.

He added that Pakistani artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali and Noor Jehan were welcomed with open arms by Indian authorities in the past but this wasn't reciprocated by the Pakistani establishment.