Javed Akhtar has compared the poverty of India and Pakistan during an event in India. During the event, the host and writer Chetan Bhagat asked Javed Akhtar that Pakistan’s economy is in a bad state, they are kneeling before the IMF, did you feel this during your visit to Pakistan? Javed Akhtar replied no, not at all, in India we see poverty on the streets, but nothing like that was seen in Lahore, it seems that poverty is hidden there. He said I went to Lahore three times, but I never saw the houses of the poor, nor did I see any poor people on the streets. It is surprising how they have managed all this. Chetan Bhagat said to Javed Akhtar it might be possible that in Pakistan you would have been taken from special streets where poverty was not visible. On which Javed Akhtar said if you go on any road in Mumbai you will see poverty somewhere, we have both good and bad here, but this is not the case in Pakistan, this thing is not seen there.