Crossing deal brings relief on both sides

But like many in both parts of the divided Himalayan region that has twice brought India and Pakistan to war, he welcomed Sunday's agreement to open up the de facto border to speed relief efforts to the suffering.

"This is the best gift both the governments can give us," said Asif, a 28-year-old teacher in a primary school in the border village of Tangdaar on the Indian side that has been shut since the massive October 8 quake.

"I will definitely go and meet my uncle, who is a tailor in Pakistan. I have never met his family and we got a letter from him a month ago. I do not know whether he and his relatives are alive or not," he told AFP.

The agreement came a week after Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf proposed allowing the two-way movement of Kashmiris across the so-called Line of Control (LoC) to help the millions left homeless by the disaster.