NEW DELHI, Feb 21: India and Pakistan took important steps on Thursday to increase the capacity on popular bus routes between the two countries.

Encouraged by the popularity of the Delhi-Lahore bus service, they decided to increase its frequency from two trips per week to three from each side from March 17.

The two sides also decided that the Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service would have a stopover in Lahore to enable passengers to embark or get off.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of Indian and Pakistani transport officials here to review the bus services, which are key confidence-building measures between the two countries.

“Both sides noted with satisfaction the continuing operations of the bus services and discussed further measures for improvement,” said a joint statement issued after the first meeting of the India-Pakistan Standing Committee on Bus Services.

“It has been decided to increase the frequency of

Delhi-Lahore bus service from two trips per week to three trips per week from each side,” it said.

The Delhi-Lahore bus service, intended to be the low-cost means of cross-border transport, was launched on March 16, 1999, after the then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee travelled to Pakistan by bus.

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus service from Delhi to Lahore runs on Tuesdays and Fridays and from Lahore to Delhi on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) runs the bus service from Lahore to Delhi on Tuesdays and Fridays. From Delhi to Lahore, the PTDC buses ply on Wednesdays and Saturdays.