SRINAGAR: The Karwan-e-Aman bus service, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir will not operate tomorrow on account of Pakistan Independence Day.
The weekly bus service was suspended on July 31 between the two sides after a message was received from Pakistan that there is a holiday in PoK on account of 14th death anniversary of founding president of PoK Sardar Mohammad Ibrahim Khan.
However, the weekly bus service was resumed last week when 53 new guests from the PoK were among 178 passengers who crossed sides at the Kaman Post, the last Indian military post on this side of the Line of Control (LoC) at Uri.
”We have received a message from the PoK that the bus will not operate tomorrow due to holiday on account of Pak ID,” official sources said.
The bus service, a major Confidence Building Measure (CBM) between India and Pakistan after 1999 Kargil War, continued despite unrest in Kashmir in 2016 and tension on the LoC, due to ceasefire violation and subsequent surgical strike by Indian troops in the PoK.
The cross-LoC bus service started on April 7, 2005, despite opposition by militant organisations, has helped thousands of families, divided in 1947 due to Partition, to meet each other after India and Pakistan agreed to allow travel of state subjects from both sides on travel permits, instead of international passport.
The travel permit is issued to the state subjects from both sides of the LoC, only after their names are cleared by the intelligence agencies from India and Pakistan.
However, only state subjects from both sides can avail the cross-LoC bus facility. (AGENCIES)
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