Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly has backed Gautam Gambhir’s call to cut-off bilateral ties with Pakistan. Tension has been escalating between the two countries following the Uri attacks in which 19 Indian soldiers were martyred.

Following the attacks, there were divided opinions across the country on maintaining ties with Pakistan. While the majority of the people were in favor of cutting all the ties with Pakistan, several people related to Bollywood said that the Pakistani actors should not be involved in the matter.

Blasting them, Gambhir told India Today: “India should not have any ties with Pakistan be it Bollywood or cricket. I am shocked that Bollywood is saying that cricket and movies should be kept ahead of national sentiments.

“National interest is above anything else. Just because you sit in an air-conditioned room, you can say you shouldn’t relate cricket and movies to politics. Ask anyone who has lost a family member to terror attacks and you will get your answer,” he added.

After the incident, the BCCI wrote to ICC not to pit India and Pakistan in the same group in future tournaments. However, Ganguly has said that while it will be tough to boycott Pakistan in the ICC tournaments, India can certainly stop playing bilateral series with its arch-rivals.

Talking to the India Today, he said: “It’s completely acceptable that if you keep fighting and killing our soldiers at the border you cannot just keep playing bilateral series.”

“It’s a very sensitive issue and we will get opinions from all quarters, as Gambhir has expressed. Anurag (Thakur) has a different stance, a new BCCI president two or three years down the line might have a different stance but it is not in the BCCI’s control to stop the ICC from hosting an India-Pakistan match in their events,” he added.