NEW DELHI, Dec 28: The New Delhi-Lahore bus left on Friday for its last journey through the troubled border between India and Pakistan whose relations have plunged into a diplomatic Cold War.

The bus departed from the Ambedkar Stadium terminal in New Delhi amid tight security at 6:25am carrying 33 passengers including one Indian.

Last week, India announced the termination of cross-border bus and train services from Jan 1 — a step aimed at pressuring Islamabad to take action against militant groups allegedly behind an attack on the Indian parliament on Dec 13.

“This was the last Indian bus to Lahore,” said an official of the Delhi Transport Corporation which runs the service. “It will return to New Delhi tomorrow (Saturday) evening. After that, there will be no more buses.”

The bus service between the two South Asian nuclear rivals was started at the behest of Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who rode on the first bus when he travelled to Lahore for a landmark summit with then Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Feb 1999.

The service was available to passengers on both sides every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The one-way fare for the 12-hour journey was $18.5.—AFP