LAHORE, March 15: Federal Culture Minister Dr G G Jamal has said exhibition of Indian movies in Pakistani cinemas is not all that simple as the ministry has to consult different offices, including the foreign office, in this regard.

Mr Jamal was the guest of honour at the first Indo-Pak Theatre festival at the Government College University here on Thursday.

Talking to newsmen, he said some three weeks ago he had a meeting with film people in Islamabad in which various committees were formed to look into the demands of the film industry. He said a committee had been formed also for the exhibition of the Indian films and it would submit its report soon.

Answering a question, he said the federal government was planning to set up a film academy in Lahore for which the federal culture ministry had asked the provincial government to arrange for the land.

About transfer of 147 monuments from the federal government to Punjab, the minister once again expressed his determination about sending a team of experts to check the conditions of the already given federal monuments to Punjab. He said the team would soon arrive in Lahore for this purpose.

Speaking to the audience earlier, the minister welcomed the visiting Indian delegation for the festival and congratulated the GCU for holding such an event.

GCU vice-chancellor Dr Khalid Aftab said the Government College in the last 143 years had played a pivotal role in educational and co-curricular activities. He said its students had touched heights in all spheres of life. Indian film actors Balraj Sani and Dev Anand, playwright and intellectual Imtiaz Ali Taj and Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum are to name a few.

Pakistan National Council of Arts Director-General Naeem Tahir in his speech recollected the memories of his college days when he used to be a student of the Government College Lahore.