ISLAMABAD, 11 March 2004 — Officials from Pakistan and India yesterday agreed to restart a cross-border bus service on a route that had been suspended since the 1960s, officials said.
No timeframe has been set for restarting the bus service between Khokhrapar in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province and Munabao in the western Indian desert state of Rajasthan, which was suspended in 1965 during a war between the two countries.
“Definitely, our effort would be to start the bus as soon as possible,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity at the conclusion of two days of talks between the two sides in Islamabad. He gave no other details.
Technical details and modalities for the bus shuttle will be decided at a follow-up meeting for which the dates and venue have yet to be decided, an official statement said after two-day technical talks in Islamabad.
The resumption of Khokhrapar-Munabao bus service will help families separated after a partition in 1947 which resulted in creation of Pakistan and India as independent states.
Munabao is located some 20 kilometers from Khokhrapar, where Pakistani authorities have already started developing necessary infrastructure for the passengers.
“Opening of bus service will greatly facilitate Pakistanis to travel to India,” said Pakistani Communications Minister Ahmed Ali while talking to Indian officials, who attended the two-day talks.
The Khokhrapar-Munabao bus service will be the second such road link between Pakistan and India. A twice-a-week bus service between the Indian capital, New Delhi, and Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore restarted recently.
Pakistan and India are also scheduled to discuss opening a bus route between Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistani-controlled portion of Kashmir, and Srinagar, capital of the Indian-controlled portion, in Islamabad on March 29-30.
An Indian delegation is due in Islamabad for talks to start the bus service between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar, officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
The Muzaffarabad-Srinagar highway used to be a major trade route for the Himalayan region until 1948, when it was closed following a war between Pakistan and India over Kashmir.
