ISLAMABAD/LAHORE, June 4: The government will be sending a delegation to India next week to work out modalities for resumption of bus service between the two countries, Dawn learnt through reliable sources.

The delegation will comprise senior officials of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, a representative of the Foreign Office and technical officials of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation,” informed sources told Dawn on Wednesday.

Indian Transport Minister Ajay Maken announced on Tuesday that the bus service between India and Pakistan would resume on July 1.

Following the announcement, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) sent a fax massage to the PTDC, inviting a technical committee within a week to finalize modalities to resume the service.

The PTDC’s three-member technical committee would comprise its manager (accounts), deputy managing-director and Pakistan Tours Limited manager. The committee will discuss its Indian counterparts the fare rates, number of buses to be plied between the two countries and timings of bus operations.

Both the PTDC and the Delhi Transport Corporation were considering enhancing the fare as the bus service was not even meeting the operational costs when India unilaterally terminated the service.

Official sources told Dawn that the PTDC was also considering acquiring two new buses to ply on the Lahore-Delhi route. The two buses previously plying on the route had worn out after operating on different domestic routes during the last one- and-a-half years.

It is also learnt that the customs officials also visited the Lahore-Delhi bus service terminal and PTDC regional office to assess the feasibility whether all customs procedures could be completed at Faletties hotel or not.

The agreement between Pakistan and India to start the bus service came into force on Feb 17, 1999, for five years extendible on mutual consent.