India fails to give date for talks : Reopening of Kashmir crossing point
By Our Staff Correspondent
MUZAFFARABAD, Sept 9: Pakistani authorities met their Indian counterparts on Saturday to discuss reopening of a crossing point along the Line of Control but could not get a specific date for resumption of movement through the point from the Indian side.
The flag meeting, held on the Indian side of the LoC to fix a date to resume people’s movement through the Tatta Pani-Mendhar crossing point, was attended by assistant commissioners of Kotli and Mendhar and other officials from the AJK and Indian held Kashmir.
Tatta Pani-Mendhar is one of the five crossing points along the LoC which had been opened after last year’s devastating earthquake. But about one and half months ago, the crossing point was closed after Indian officials said two bridges on the Mendhar drain had been damaged by torrential rains.
Last month, people enlisted to cross through the Tatta Pani-Mendhar point were exchanged through the Tetrinote-Chakan-da-Bagh point in the neighbouring Poonch district.
When contacted by Dawn on telephone, Kotli assistant commissioner Arshad Mahmood Jaral said the flag meeting was held to know when the Indian authorities would be able to reopen the crossing point but they declined to give any specific date.
He said the Indian officials had told him that once the rains stopped, they would reconstruct the temporary bridges on the water channel and then hold a meeting to fix a date for reopening of the crossing point.
Answering a question, Mr Jaral said his office had received 2,700 applications from people, 1,000 of which had been sent across the LoC for clearance.
He said 150 people were waiting to cross the LoC through the Tatta Pani-Mendhar point. He said 30 people could be sent across the LoC in a single trip every fortnight.
Replying to another question, he said after last month’s ceasefire violation by Indian troops in which a woman was killed, people had become sceptical of the peace process.
