July 12, 2003	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 11, 1424

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WAGAH, July 11: Drums, dancing and rose petals greeted the resumption of bus service between India and Pakistan on Friday, allowing for emotional family reunions after an 18-month suspension.

The resumption of the Lahore-Delhi service is the most visible sign of a warming of ties between the two countries seen since April.

The bus from New Delhi crossed into Pakistan at Wagah several hours later as its speed was affected in the Punjab wheat bowl where men staged boisterous Bhangra dances on the road.

The bus was welcomed by cheers and applause from hundreds of men and women gathered to witness the daily flag-lowering ceremony on the Pakistani side at Wagah, some of whom shouted ”Pakistan Zindabad”. A group of women threw rose petals as passengers waved back.

Saba Vahoor from India stepped off the bus to an emotional greeting from her Pakistani husband who she had not seen for eight months.

She brought with her one son and an infant of a few months her husband had never seen. “I am elated,” she said.—Reuters

Mansoor Malik adds from Lahore: A number of people were present at the PTDC terminal to see off and receive their relatives and friends when a Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation bus carrying 27 passengers left for Delhi.

Expressing their excitement, the passengers said it was a great moment that the road link between the two countries had been restored.

They said the resumption of the bus service would surely minimize the problems being faced by the peoples of two countries, especially those of divided families.

The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation had confirmed 28 bookings but a passenger, a PTV cameraman, Akmal Ali, did not report at the terminal. Two journalists from a private TV news channel and a US-based Pakistani got their tickets on Friday morning to increase the overnight tally of 25 to 28 passengers.

The passengers included nine electronic and print media journalists, including two from a Japanese news agency.

The Dosti Bus left the terminal at 6.30am, about half-an-hour behind schedule, after a formal inaugural and tape-cutting ceremony was performed by Culture and Tourism Minister Rais Munir Ahmad.

Originally, the bus service agreement was signed on Feb 17, 1999 for five years. The service was, however, discontinued on Jan 1, last year.

The minister said the bus service had been resumed after Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had on April 18 expressed his desire to normalize bilateral relations.

He said Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali reciprocated the Indian initiative by proposing the resumption of the bus service.

“The service has been re-launched with the intention to provide a safe, comfortable and cheapest way of travelling between the two countries,” Mr Ahmad said.

The Delhi Transport Corporation bus reached the bus terminal in Lahore at 7.50pm.

The passengers told reporters that people in India were very happy about the revival of friendship and hoped that these ties would be strengthened.

Jawed Naqvi adds from Delhi: Passengers arriving from Pakistan included a two-year-old girl who needs heart surgery. Her father said peace was the only way between the two countries, a sentiment shared apparently by everyone who spoke on the subject at the Ambedkar bus terminal.

Rightwing Hindu Shiv Sena activists protested the two-way journey but there were groups such as a little known Global Movement for Peace that greeted passengrs on both the buses.

It was raining hard at 6pm when the bus from Lahore was due to arrive. But at that time it was nowhere in sight even as most of the major TV channels had begun their live trans-mission of the much awaited event. It eventually arrived at 8pm.

The morning bus to Lahore was seen off by Indian Surface Transport Minister Maj-Gen B.C. Khanduri. The evening bus was received by senior Indian officials and Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner Munawar Bhatti.

Pakistani journalists said their bus arrived two hours late because of a few unscheduled halts on the way that were forced by those who wanted to greet them and offer them sweets.