Pakistan bans screening of Indian films

A union representing Pakistan cinemas and film distributors has banned the screening of Indian movies across the country in the wake of rising tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours in disputed Kashmir. 

The decision follows an earlier move by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) to prohibit Pakistani actors and technicians from working on Bollywood sets.

The silver screen drama erupted after India claimed Thursday it had carried out "surgical strikes" across the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border in the disputed territory, on alleged "terrorist" targets inside Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

"It is deeply regrettable that a film trade body, the IMPPA, has passed a resolution to ban Pakistani stars and technicians from working in India," a statement from the Pakistan's Film Exhibitors and Distributors group said late Friday.

"In lieu of the IMPPA decision... the majority stake holders of the (Pakistani) film industry have decided to suspend the screening of all Indian films until normalcy returns."

Indian movies are screened in a majority of Pakistani cinemas, as filmmakers in the South Asian nation strive to revive its struggling motion picture industry.

Many Pakistani singers and film actors have been cast in the Indian films in a bid to improve people-to-people contact between the rival countries.

Cinema employees in Karachi were seen removing the giant posters advertising Indian films over the weekend and replacing them with banners for Pakistani and Hollywood movies.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since they gained independence from Britain seven decades ago, two of them over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.