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| May 28, 2005 | Saturday | Rabi-us-Sani 19, 1426 |
AJK premier wants Kashmir air service
ISLAMABAD, May 27: Pakistan will ask India to allow air travel between Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir and Srinagar in held Kashmir to facilitate Kashmiris’ travel in the disputed region, it has been reliably learnt.
Informed sources told Dawn that the proposal had been made by AJK Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat to the National Economic Council (NEC) which met here on Friday with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in the chair.
According to sources, the AJK prime minister told the meeting that a 48-minute flight could connect the two capitals of the disputed territory and air strips for small aircraft in both the capitals were already available in good condition.
Mr Hayat added that the service could later be made available to the people of Pakistan and India and foreigners to promote tourism.
Mr Aziz appreciated the proposal and assured the AJK premier that it would be discussed at the forthcoming meeting of the Civil Aviation Authority scheduled for next week and the authority would be asked to look into feasibility and security aspects of the air service.
Sources said that the AJK prime minister appreciated the government of Pakistan for meeting development needs of Azad Kashmir. Pakistan and India launched Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service on April 7 this year. Similar bus services are likely to be launched between Sialkot and Jammu and Pullandari and Poonch soon.
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