India’s ICCR among sponsors at Pakistan’s Karachi Literature Festival

“We are working to increase India’s cultural footprint across the world under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, including in Pakistan,” ICCR director general Amarendra Khatua told TOI. This is the first time ICCR is sponsoring the event, which began in 2010. Speaking to news agency ANI, Khatua said, “We have not sponsored Karachi Literature Festival, only the four participating Indian authors.”

ICCR’s involvement in KLF comes weeks after Pakistan declined an invitation by Indian Parliament and Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to attend South Asian Speakers’ Summit to be held February 18-19.

The dismissal of cultural ties between the two nations started in the aftermath of Uri attack, where infiltrators from Pakistan killed 18 Army personnel in September 2016. Following that India retracted its participation from SAARC summit and placed an effective ban on Pakistani artistes performing in India.