Pakistani Books Set to Hit India

With the start of a free intellectual exchange between India and Pakistan, Indian readers now have the chance to read books on Pakistan’s history, economy, laws, culture, music and even fiction.

While Indian books have always been available in our neighbouring country, the exchange was, till now, never mutual due to Pakistan’s restrictive trade policy.

Besides Mumbai, they are available in Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata. At present, Crossword is the only bookstore in Mumbai that has the Pakistani titles, though they are also being supplied to educational institutes and college libraries.

“We have about 42 titles from Pakistan at our store, largely in the non-fiction category. It’s too early to gauge the demand for them because it has only been a week,” says R Sriram, CEO and MD, Crossword bookstore.

The titles available with Crossword include books on Pakistan’s constitutional law, Islam and Pakistan’s identity, the country’s political culture and economy and critiques of Pakistan’s history and the military, including fictional works. The books are within a price range of Rs 195 to Rs 4,500…