Himalayan News Service

Islamabad, April 29:

Talks on a Lahore-Amritsar bus service, the third road link between India and Pakistan, are proposed to be held here May 10-11. “New Delhi is expected to accept the dates,” Daily Times today quoted sources as saying. There were positive indications that the service would commence soon as both countries wanted to increase people-to-people contact, it quoted the sources as saying. In a joint statement issued in New Delhi on April 18, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had pledged to start a Lahore-Amritsar bus service that would later be extended to Nankana Sahib (75 km from Lahore) to facilitate Sikh pilgrims visit the birthplace of Guru Nanak. An inter-ministerial meeting would be held ahead of the talks with the Indian team. “It is expected that the inter-ministerial meeting will be held next week,” The News quoted sources as saying. India and Pakistan currently operate buses on the Lahore-Delhi and Muzaffarabad-Srinagar routes.