[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Pakistain said on Saturday it had cancelled a bus linking Lahore with India’s capital New Delhi, the last remaining public transport link between the neighbors divided by a dispute over the Kashmire region.Islamabad reacted with fury this week after India revoked the special status for the portion of Kashmire that it controls, calling the action illegal, a claim New Delhi denies.
Pakistain has already cut two rail links, suspended bilateral trade and expelled India’s ambassador, all part of what it called a diplomatic effort to protest against the decision.
Arshad Ali, tourism officer at Pakistain Tourism Development Corporation that runs the Pakistain leg of the journey, told Rooters the government had issued directives that meant the bus, that departs Lahore six days a week at 0600 local time, was suspended from Saturday onwards.
"The operation will remain suspended till further decision," he said.
Delhi Transport Corporation, that runs the service in the other direction, did not respond to requests for comment.
The service, known as the "friendship bus", has long been seen as a symbolic link between the two countries.
Launched in 1999, it has run almost continuously since, including throughout the last crisis between the two countries in February.
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