India has agreed to screen Pakistani movies on commercial basis in its theatres, Pakistan culture minister has said.

An agreement of Indian and Pakistani film distributors for supplying Lollywood movies would be inked soon to pave way for the showcasing of Pakistani films, G G Jamal said.

A festival of Pakistani movies is also in the offing in India, he said adding as many as six movies are being taken for the exhibition.

He, however, said a joint production of movies could only be possible if bilateral relations improve. Pakistan continues to ban screening of Indian movies in its theatres even though Bollywood movies rule the roost with heavy sales of pirated CDs and cassettes.

Islamabad recently relaxed rules to permit screening of Pakistani productions featuring Indian actors. The move was aimed at reviving Pakistan film industry.

The number of theatres in Pakistan has dwindled from 1,500 to 211 in recent years while capital Islamabad has no theatre at all. The two remaining theatres were closed last year and converted into commercial buildings.

As a first step on opening the film front to India, Pakistan recently permitted the screening of the colour print of Mughal-e-Azam as well as Taj Mahal which featured among others Sonia Jehan, the granddaughter of Pakistan's famous singer Noorjahan.