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Indo-Pak bus to run soon, no thaw yet on air link
New Delhi, June 19: India and Pakistan today agreed on the operational aspects of resumption of the Delhi-Lahore bus service, snapped after the terrorist attack on parliament in December 2001, but the issue of revival of air links remained to be taken up.
New Delhi, June 19: India and Pakistan today agreed on the operational aspects of resumption of the Delhi-Lahore bus service, snapped after the terrorist attack on parliament in December 2001, but the issue of revival of air links remained to be taken up.
The date of the relaunch of the bus service remained unclear.
Meanwhile, director-general of Pakistan`s civil aviation authority retired Air Marshal Saleem Arshad told reporters yesterday that the civil aviation authorities of both countries are yet to establish any contact or make any "specific effort" towards it.
"There is no specific effort at the moment to open air space and it depends how the thaw in relations between the two countries evolve," Arshad said.
Arshad claimed India, who used Pakistan airspace extensively, suffered more losses due to the ban on overflights than Islamabad.
Nearly a month after India decided to resume the bus link and suggested July one as the possible date for relaunch, officials of the two sides met here for about an hour and announced that the two sides were ready "operationally and technically" to ply the buses "at the earliest".
The seven-member Indian team was led by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) chairman A J S Sahani, while Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) deputy managing director Azfar Shafqat headed the three-member Pakistani delegation which arrived here this morning by air via Dubai in the absence of direct air link between the two countries.
Among the issues discussed were fares, facilities, frequency, security and settling of accounts.
The service can resume only after issues relating to visa and immigration are sorted out, Sahani told reporters with Shafqat endorsing his statement.
The two sides decided to revive the service after 18 months on the basis of the agreement reached in 1999. They will meet again tomorrow.
On the issue of settling of dues, Sahani said while PTDC owed about Rs 24 lakh to DTC, the latter had to pay some Rs five lakh to it. The net amount of around Rs 18 lakh will be paid by PTDC, he said.
Pakistan has expressed readiness to establish air links, which meant restoration of flight services between both the counties. But Islamabad is maintaining silence on re-opening its airspace to Indian overflights.
"Allowing air space will be a political decision of the governments," Arshad said.
Bureau Report