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"Slip of tongue or deliberate": Salman Khan’s Balochistan-Pakistan remark goes viral


Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Oct 20, 2025: Actor Salman Khan recently stirred quite a buzz on social media by mentioning Balochistan and Pakistan separately while referring to expatriate communities working in the Middle East. The actor made the remarks while speaking at the Joy Forum 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which he attended alongside other Bollywood superstars, including Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. 

Balochistan’s history is marred with insurgency attempts that the Pakistani government has attempted to portray as the discontent involving a few tribal chieftains in the province.


Salman Khan


In the now viral clip, Khan was heard talking about the growing global appeal of Indian cinema among South Asian communities in the Middle East. 

He said, "Right now, if you make a Hindi film and release it here (in Saudi Arabia), it will be a superhit. If you make a Tamil, Telugu, or Malayali film, it will do hundreds of crores in business because so many people from other countries have come here. There are people from Balochistan, there are people from Afghanistan, there are people from Pakistan... everyone is working here."



Social Media Reaction

The clip soon drew the Internet’s attention, with social media users debating whether Khan’s phrasing was intentional or a slip of the tongue. 

Talking to X, journalist Smita Prakash shared the clip and wrote, "I don’t know if it was slip of tongue, but this is amazing! Salman Khan separates "people of Balochistan" from "people of Pakistan"."

Another X user wrote, "Slip of tongue from Salman Khan or lack of knowledge or deliberate hint that Balochistan is ’independent’? That too with Aamir Khan & SRK on dias?"

Despite the frenzy, several social media users defended the actor, saying the comment showed Khan’s awareness about regional identities. 

"When @BeingSalmanKhan said ’Balochistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan...’ - it speaks volumes. Balochistan is not a Pakistani province - it’s a nation. Baloch is our identity and our state," wrote X user Jasmin Ahmed. 

"Even Salman Khan admitted that Balochistan is a separate country," another X user, Jabir Baloch, wrote. 

Some users also defended the actor’s remark, saying it was likely unintentional and should not be over-analysed.

One X user wrote, "We really shouldn’t expect geopolitical precision from Bollywood."

Neither Salman Khan nor his team has issued any clarification on the issue yet. 

Insurgency In Balochistan

Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province and an important checkpoint in Beijing’s so-called "China-Pakistan Economic Corridor", with the Gwadar port located close to the Gulf of Oman. It also accounts for 40 per cent of Pakistan’s gas production. Despite its strategic significance, the region has been ignored by Pakistan’s central leadership, giving rise to an independence movement which began ever since it acceded to Pakistan in 1948.

The Baloch region and the area are divided into three parts. The northern region is part of present-day Afghanistan, the western region, called Sistan-Baluchistan, is in Iran, and the remaining part is in Pakistan. 

The Baluchis believe they were colonised or annexed by Pakistan during the Partition, and the ethnic group is different from the dominant Punjabis and Sindhis, who have dominated the politics of Pakistan. Due to this, Balochistan remains volatile with ongoing insurgency targeting Pakistani forces and foreign projects, including those under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.