NEW DELHI, Oct 28: India on Tuesday took formal steps to implement peace proposals it put forward last week to ease tensions with Pakistan, an official said.

Foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters here that the chairman of India’s Delhi Transport Corporation has written to his counterpart in Pakistan on a proposal to increase the number of Delhi-Lahore buses.

Instructions have also been issued to immigration authorities to allow those aged above 65 years to cross the border at the Wagah checkpoint on foot — something not previously permissible, Sarna added.

Steps have also been taken to provide free medical treatment in India of another 20 Pakistan children, after India undertook to treat the first batch of 20 in July.

Mr Sarna said India hoped Pakistan’s response to New Delhi’s raft of peace initiatives announced by Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha last Wednesday would be “constructive in substance”.

The proposals also included a ferry service from Bombay to Karachi and a bus service between the Indian-occupied and the Azad Kashmir.

Pakistan on Monday promised a “calibrated and careful response”.

“We are not going to reject them. Our response will be robust,” said foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan.

But Mr Khan also termed the Indian proposals as “rehashed and recycled”, according to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report.

In reaction, Mr Sarna Tuesday said the comments were “unfortunate and not in keeping with the efforts being made”.—AFP