Rahat Fateh Ali Khan at Mumbai airport on August 8
Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, who believes music and sports can strengthen ties between India and Pakistan, says he will continue to visit India despite problems.
On Thursday, the singer was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here in a case of alleged forex violation. In 2011, he was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence following a day's detention at the airport here for carrying undisclosed foreign currency totalling more than $100,000.
But Mr Khan remains undeterred and says now 'there are no issues'.
"There was the issue in 2011. The Enforcement Directorate called us again for some pending queries. We tried our best to fulfill them. Thanks to god, they were satisfied. Now there are no issues. I will keep visiting India like before," Mr Khan told IANS in a telephonic interview from Mumbai.
The singer, who is visiting India after a four-year gap, is currently in the country to celebrate the success of his songs in Bollywood films like Hamari Adhuri Kahani and Drishyam.
"Music has no boundaries. Music and sports can play a strong role in strengthening bilateral ties. And they have already done it. These things matter a lot, so they should be given more importance," he stressed.
Speaking positively on the 'musical and cultural' relations between India and Pakistan, he said 'certain people' were trying to put chains on the blossoming bilateral ties.
"The musical and cultural relations may not be appreciated by certain people, so they are trying to put chains. But it's a bad thing. It's not right.
He pointed out that many Pakistanis had relatives in India and vice versa. "They travel from India to Pakistan. From Karachi, people come to India to meet their relatives."
Rahat Fatah Ali Khan, whose track Zaruri Tha is getting massive response in India, credits Bollywood's Bhatt camp for its growing popularity. The song has been featured in the film Hamari Adhuri Kahani, which was directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Mahesh Bhatt.
"The song is a part of my album 'Back 2 Love', which was released in 2014. In the Indian film industry, a good song has a huge platform... (I am hoping) it will get more popularity. It's all possible because of Mahesh Bhatt. All credit goes to the Bhatt banner," he said.
"I started off with Pooja Bhatt's film 'Paap' and since then we have shared a great relationship," added the crooner, who lent his melodious voice to the song "Mann ki lagan" for the John Abraham-Udita Goswami starrer "Paap".
Rahat Fatah Ali also revealed that a new album was in the making, which may see the light of day later this year.
"There is a new album coming out in the end of this year. We are doing the listing of the album right now."
On the musical style, Mr Khan said that the yet untitled album was based on Punjabi songs.
"The new album will have 70 percent Punjabi songs and the rest will be in Hindi. There will be songs on the lines of 'Mai tenu samjhawan ki'. No name has been finalised for this album yet," he added.