Pakistan-occupied Kashmir truckers threaten to disrupt cross-LoC bus service

Notwithstanding an agreement between India and Pakistan to resume the cross-LoC bus service from Monday, a truckers association in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have threatened to block it until all drivers return from the Indian side.

The Jhelum Valley Goods Transport Union held a sit-in outside the press club in PoK capital Muzaffarabad yesterday, a day after officials of the two countries met at Kaman Post to resolve the stand-off arising from the arrest of a Pakistani driver on charges of smuggling narcotics.

The Union threatened to disrupt the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service until over 40 drivers from the Pakistani side return from Jammu and Kashmir, the Dawn reported today. The meeting along the Line of Control (LoC) between officials of the two sides agreed to resume the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service from next Monday, a senior government official said in Srinagar on Thursday.

PoK authorities suspended trade and travel across the LoC on January 17 after the arrest of the Pakistani driver and demanded his release. They also stopped 27 Indian drivers with their trucks.

Over 110 packets of narcotics were recovered from the Pakistani vehicle at Salamabad Trade facilitation centre earlier this month. Hectic diplomatic parleys are on between the two countries to resolve the issue.