India has assured Pakistan that it will consider lifting the ban on Pakistani television channels in the country.
Foreign Secretary Jalil Ababs Jilani proposed last week that India not only allow transmission of PTV, but also private Pakistani channels, both news and non-news. Jilani said that all Indian TV channels are available in Pakistan, and Islamabad has done nothing to impose restrictions on their telecast. During talks between the two countries last week, Pakistanis told the Indian delegation, led by Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, that if India wants to spruce up people-to-people contact, it must allow Pakistani channels to be broadcast in Indian homes. He recalled the popularity of PTV’s soaps like Deewarein, Waris and Jungle in the 1980s, in India, saying that current programmes on Pakistani channels have the potential to become as popular.
The delegation was assured by their Indian counterparts that they will look positively at the proposal although the matter will first have to be discussed by the Information and Broadcasting ministries in both countries, as PTV’s ‘anti- India’ campaign in the past over internal issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, has been a concern. India and Pakistan are looking at signing an MoU for promotion of arts and culture, during the visit of Foreign Minister SM Krishna to Pakistan in early September. The two sides are expected to further hasten the groundwork for Krishna’s visit as Pakistan’s high commissioner-designate Salman Bashir, finally presented his credentials before President Pratibha Patil and assumed full charge after weeks of waiting. As a former foreign secretary, Bashir was instrumental in bringing ties back on track after the hiatus caused by 26/11 attacks.
During the talks, both sides underlined the importance of greater people-to-people contacts and friendly exchanges in building “a relationship of trust and friendship between the two countries”. They emphasised the importance of greater parliamentary exchanges; promotion of cooperation in various fields including facilitating visits to religious shrines and “cessation of hostile propaganda against each other”.
