19 February 2005	Saturday	09 Muharram 1426

New Delhi, Feb 18: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Friday hailed the agreement on starting the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service and other confidence building measures (CBMs) between Pakistan and India.

In a Press briefing he and India's External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh held after wide-ranging talks on Friday, the British secretary lauded the ongoing peace process between Pakistan and India and said that the bus service and the proposed Khokrapar-Munnabao rail link would considerably benefit the people of the two countries.

Mr Straw said a peace process could, at times, be slow, difficult or cause frustration. However, he said, normalization of Indo-Pakistan relations would help the two countries increase mutual trade and facilitate visits of citizen of one country to the other.

With reference to Indo-UK bilateral relations, Mr Straw said the ties were getting better and the two-way trade had touched $10 billion mark. Earlier, Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Mr Straw signed an agreement on transfer of convicts and renewed an accord for return of illegal Indian immigrants to India. -APP