LoC opens for business from today
History will be made on Tuesday when India and Pakistan commence their first-ever truck services across the LoC on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakote routes, reports Tushar Srivastava.
History will be made on Tuesday when India and Pakistan commence their first-ever truck services across the Line of Control (LoC) on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakote routes.
“We have made all the arrangements and are ready from our side…” said Foreign Secretary, Shivshankar Menon.
Senior Indian and Pakistani officials told HT that the truck services on both the routes would be made operational on Tuesday. While the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad service would be formally inaugurated on Tuesday, the Poonch-Rawalakote route would have to wait till Wednesday, the officials said.
The truck service is one of the many confidence-building measures agreed upon by the two countries.
Eleven trucks laden with fruits, walnuts and honey among other things will make a historic journey to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir on Tuesday when the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road will be thrown open for trade.
No dates for Pranab Lanka visit
The foreign secretary said no date had been fixed for External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to travel to Colombo. “Nothing has been fixed yet, no dates have been set.”
He added that the government will decide on Mukherjee’s trip after a likely visit by a high-level delegation from Colombo to New Delhi.
