Sonia to see off 1st batch Poonch-Rawalkot bus

Sonia Gandhi is likely to be present at the inaugural bus service between Poonch and Rawalakot on June 20.

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is likely to be present at the inaugural bus service between Poonch and Rawalakot at Chakan-da-Bagh in Poonch district of Jammu region on June 20.

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She is expected to see off the first batch of 30 passengers leaving from Poonch and receive the same number of people from across the border on Tuesday, official sources said.

This is the second bus service to be launched from Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK). The first one, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 7 last year.

Apart from these passengers, 15 more residents of PoK, who had crossed from 'foot points' like Mendhar and Poonch, would also leave on June 20, while 30 residents of Poonch would also come back using the bus service.

Initially scheduled to be launched on June 19, the bus service was postponed by a day to tie-up some 'loose ends' from both sides, sources said.