Indian business tycoon Mukesh Ambani joins chorus of Pakistani artistes ban

Indian business tycoon Mukesh Ambani joined the anti-Pakistan campaigning in Bollywood on Tuesday, saying the nation should come first and not arts and culture.

“I am absolutely clear about one thing... for me it is always the country first. I am not an intellectual... But undoubtedly like for all Indians, India is first for me,” Hindustan Times quoted Ambani as saying.

Ambani's statements, who is the chairman of Reliance Industries, came amid arguments both in support and against the Pakistani actors working in India.



Tension between the two countries escalated after the Sept 18 Uri attack, in which 19 Indian soldiers were killed. India put the blame on Pakistan, and also claimed of carrying out 'surgical strikes' against 'terrorists' along the Pakistani side of Line of Control. Since then the relations between arch-rivals have yet to see normalcy.



Last month, the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association passed a resolution to temporarily ban Pakistani artists from working in India, whereas the Indian nationalist party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) warned all Pakistani artists in India to leave the country.

Giving in to the war-hysteria, filmmaker Karan Johar also said that he wouldn’t “engage” with Pakistani talent under the current circumstances.