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Kashmir bus may not start on time
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan said yesterday the much-awaited bus service between two major towns in the disputed Kashmir region may not start on April 7 as planned because of technical problems. "The work, including clearing mines near the Line of Control (LoC) and repairing the 60-kilometre-long Muzaffarabad-Chakoti road, has already been started but bad weather in the valley may hamper reopening of the road," Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, Minister for Kashmir and Northern Areas Affairs, told reporters here.
| "There's this ticking sound coming from under the hood of the bus, and our experts want more time to check it out." |
On February 16, the foreign ministers of the two South Asian neighbours agreed to start bus service between Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, and Srinagar, summer capital of Indian Kashmir, beginning on April 7. Hayat clarified that the service is meant to facilitate "people of Kashmiri origin" on both sides and said no non-Kashmiri could use it. However, the minister seemed unsure whether people of Gilgit and Baltistan in northern Pakistan would fall into this category.
| "Yew ain't from 'round heer, are yew?" |
"If they (people of northern areas) are included in this category, they will travel. But yet we have not determined this," he said. Indian foreign secretary Shayam Saran told reporters earlier in Islamabad the route would be open to all Pakistanis, Indians and Kashmiri people and cover the entire Kashmir territory, including the area of Gilgat in northern Pakistan.
Posted by: Steve White 2005-03-01 |
