India and Pakistan have extended a nearly four-decade-old agreement on trans-border train services for three years, the external affairs ministry said on Friday.
The agreement between the two governments on rail communication was extended by “mutual consent through diplomatic channels” from January 19, 2016 to January 18, 2019, a statement said.
The pact, signed on June 28, 1976, enables trans-border train services for both freight and passenger traffic.
The two sides currently have only two trans-border trains. The Samjhauta Express operates on the Delhi-Lahore route via the Attari-Wagah border crossing and carries both passengers and freight.
The Thar Express links Jodhpur and Karachi via the Munabao-Khokhrapar border crossing and carries only passengers.
The Munabao-Khokhrapar link was destroyed during the 1965 war between the two countries. The service was revived after 41 years in February 2006.
The Samjhauta Express runs twice a week. Nearly 60 people, most of Pakistanis, were killed when the train was bombed in February 2007.