PoK-Srinagar bus returns without Pakistani passengers

With the growing skirmish between India and Pakistan along the border, the bus, which runs between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad of Pakistan occupied Kashmir on weekly basis, today returned without a single Pakistani national.

Karvan-e-Aman bus service on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road plied as per schedule despite tensions following ceasefire violations by Pakistan, however, no fresh guests arrived from PoK on Monday, sources said.

The bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, started in April 2005 to facilitate meeting of divided families and was billed as the 'mother of all confidence-building measures' aimed at restoring peace in the state.

There were no fresh arrivals from PoK but over 50 passengers crossed the LoC at Kaman Aman Setu on board the bus, which was started as a confidence building measure in 2005, official sources said.

While 30 passengers from Kashmir crossed the LoC to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), 22 Indian citizens returned home from the other side, the sources said.

As many as 26 Indian citizens crossed the LoC to visit their relatives while four PoK residents returned home via the bus service, they said.

Although the cross-LoC travel was suspended on Poonch-Rawalakot route in the back drop of ceasefire violations along the LoC, the trade and travel on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road remained unaffected.