NEW DELHI, 19 October 2005 — India announced a free telephone link yesterday for Kashmiris desperate to contact relatives across the Line of Control in Pakistani Kashmir after this month’s earthquake. Thousands of Indian quake survivors have pleaded for telephone links to be opened after the quake killed at least 41,000 in Pakistan and injured 67,000, while in Indian Kashmir a further 1,300 people died. Millions have been left homeless.
A Foreign Ministry statement said four centers would remain open in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state for a fortnight from today to help people call relatives in Muzaffarabad in Pakistani Kashmir.
“This facility is being provided as a special case, on the directions of the prime minister,” the Indian statement added.
Meanwhile, India rejected yesterday Pakistan’s request for helicopters without crews for relief operations.
Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan called his Indian counterpart Shyam Saran “to convey that Pakistan would be willing to receive helicopters from India for relief work but without Indian pilots and crews,” said an Indian Foreign Ministry statement issued overnight.
