Islamabad: With cable operators in Pakistan threatening to go on a nationwide strike to protest the ban on Indian channels, the government has said the action has been taken to help local electronic media industry.

The ban on Indian channels was enforced to enable Pakistan's television industry compete with the foreign media, a spokesman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PERMA) said.

Maintaining that PERMA was concerned about the cable TV industry problems and was trying to resolve them, the spokesman urged Cable TV Industry Association members not to press ahead with the strike and rather join hands with the authorities in promoting and strengthening the domestic broadcast industry.

Indian channels were banned in Pakistan in December 2001, at the height of tension between the two countries after the attack on Indian Parliament.

PTI