ISLAMABAD, Nov 16: Kashmiris from Indian side will be allowed to cross the Line of Control (LoC) with Azad Kashmir on Thursday to check on family living in the earthquake-ruined region, according to a Pakistani official. The move comes weeks after Pakistan and India agreed to the humanitarian gesture, to help the movement of aid and to allow divided families to meet across the militarised boundary.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told Reuters on Wednesday the first movement of people will be across the border between Chakothi and the Indian town of Uri.
Thursday’s crossing will be one-way traffic, with 83 people from held Kashmir allowed to make the trip to Pakistani territory.
But none of the 120 people from Azad Kashmir who applied to go the other way have had their names cleared by the Indian authorities.
The two South Asian neighbours agreed last month to open five crossings on the heavily militarised Line of Control.
While they have exchanged relief goods at these crossings this month, no people have yet crossed because, according to Pakistani officials, the Indian side was not ready.
Pakistan’s military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said people will be allowed to cross the other four border points later this month.
“We wanted to allow the people from both sides to cross the LoC in the day time on a daily basis. But India has shown some administrative problems in this regard,” he said.
The United Nations wants to see the ceasefire line opened to its own aid trucks, saying it could save thousands of lives in remote mountain communities on the Pakistani side, but the two sides have yet to agree to this.—Reuters
