India blocked the Instagram account of former Pakistani prime minister and cricket star Imran Khan on Saturday as part of new measures against Islamabad.
This came after India accused Pakistan of supporting a deadly attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, where 26 men lost their lives.
Pakistan has denied the accusation, but the tension between the two countries has only grown, with gunfire exchanges across the disputed Kashmir border.
Alongside blocking social media access, India’s communications ministry announced it was stopping all incoming mail and parcels from Pakistan by both air and land.
Earlier, the two countries had already expelled each other’s citizens, shut down the main border crossing, and banned aircraft from using each other’s airspace.
Indian media reported on Saturday that Pakistani ships are now barred from Indian ports, and Indian ships are banned from entering Pakistan.
While trade between the neighbours has often been minimal due to long-standing tensions, cultural connections have remained stronger, as both countries share a deep historical link dating back to the 1947 partition when British colonial rule ended.
India had already blocked more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels on April 28, accusing them of spreading provocative content.
Now, the restrictions have expanded to cover the social media accounts of Pakistani entertainment and sports figures, including Bollywood regulars Fawad Khan and Atif Aslam, as well as cricketers like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shahid Afridi, and Wasim Akram.
Even Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem’s Instagram account is no longer accessible to Indian users.
Anyone in India trying to visit these accounts is now met with a message saying access has been blocked due to a legal request.
