Dancers, flowers greet Pakistani bus in India

A Pakistani border security guard escorts a bus carrying Pakistani officials from Lahore after it crosses the India-Pakistan border at Wagah yesterday on its way to Amritsar as part of a trial run for a new bus service.. PHOTO: AFP

The bus, to ply between the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore and the Amritsar in Punjab, was on a trial run and carried nine people, including Pakistani tourism officials.

People threw marigold petals on the green and white bus, which had "Dosti" and the flags of both countries painted on it, as it crossed the Wagah border point into Punjab before heading to Amritsar.

A police band beat drums while Punjabi folk artists performed a traditional dance as they escorted it to the Wagah customs office in a test run which followed one by an Indian bus in the opposite direction on Sunday.

A regular, twice-a-week service between the two cities, just 60 km apart, was due to start in the last week of this month, Hashim Khan, director-general of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, told reporters before the bus set off.