India, Pakistan hold talks on bus services, flights

Indian joint secretary at the foreign ministry, Dilip Sinha (L) talks with Pakistan's additional secretary in the Ministry of Communications, Mohammad Abbas (R) at the start of a two-day meeting in New Delhi yesteday. PHOTO: AFP

The India delegation is headed by Dilip Sinha, joint secretary at the foreign ministry, while Mohammad Abbas, additional secretary in the Ministry of Communications, is leading the Pakistan side for the two-day meeting.

The two countries agreed in May in Islamabad to run buses between the Sikh holy city of Amritsar and Pakistan's second largest city of Lahore, but left technical details to be decided at a second round of talks.

They also agreed in principle to run a second bus service between Amritsar and the Pakistani town of Nankana Sahib, the site of a Sikh shrine near Lahore.

After the meeting in May Pakistani delegation leader Abbas had said more preparations were needed before a date for the launch of the 56-km service could be set.

"We have to work out certain modalities and as a matter of fact the date depends on the tour operators of the two countries," he had said.

Simultaneously, Pakistani and Indian aviation officials began talks in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near Islamabad, to increase the number of flights and improve passenger services, a defence ministry official told AFP.

The Indian side is led by the director general of Indian ministry of civil aviation Satendra Singh, while Muhammad Ashraf Chaudhry, additional secretary of Pakistan's defence ministry is leading his side.

Air links between the two countries were severed after India blamed Pakistan-based militants for a December 2001 attack on its parliament that brought the nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of war.

Under a series of fence-mending moves since April 2003, the two sides agreed on December 1, 2003 to restart air services and the first commercial flight from New Delhi landed in Pakistani city of Lahore on January 9 last year.

Currently, official airlines from the two countries operate flights between two cities in India - New Delhi and Mumbai, and two in Pakistan - Lahore and Karachi.

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence in 1947. The reopening of transport links across the border has been a feature of the new peace dialogue, which began in January last year. They have also agreed to revive a train service between Munnabao in India and Khokrapar in Pakistan.