ISLAMABAD: Pakistan decided on Friday to shut down Thar Express — the second train service to India — and Dosti Bus Service following the mounting tension between the two countries in the wake of New Delhi’s decision to annex Jammu and Kashmir.

In a tweet, Minister of State for Communications Murad Saeed said: “In line with the decisions of NSC [National Security Committee] Pak-India bus service is suspended.”

Similarly, Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed announced at a news briefing at the Press Information Department (PID) that the government had decided to close down Thar Express — the train service running between Khokhrapar (Pakistan) and Munabao (India). The last train departed for India on Friday night.

It was the second train service between Pakistan and India to be suspended after Samjhauta Express was shut down on Thursday. Thar Express runs from Karachi to Zero Point via Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas every Friday and every Saturday from Zero Point.

The railways minister said Samjhauta Express and Thar Express would remain suspended and there was no chance of them being restored in future.

In reply to a question about a statement by Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry that the railways minister could not suspend Samjhauta Express on his own, Mr Rashid said he was the most senior member of parliament and he would not make such decisions without the consent of Prime Minister Imran Khan and after the latter’s permission he had announced it.

“He (Fawad Chaudhry) is in habit of sticking his nose into other ministries instead of his own work. I don’t make further comments on him as he is my friend but….,” he said, adding that as long as he is railways minister he will not allow restoration of services of these trains.

He said a 133km-long new track had been laid for Thar Express at a cost of Rs13 billion and after the suspension of its service, the track would be utilised for the Thar coal project. “This track was laid before me as railways minister. It is the latest broad gauge track as the old metre gauge track was laid in the area in 1861,” he said.

Referring to his affiliation with the Kashmir freedom movement, he claimed that Lal Haveli (his political office) and Lal Chowk in Srinagar had centuries-old blood relations. “I will visit border areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir from Urri, Neelam Valley, to Chokathi to review the latest situation,” he said.

He said Pakistan did not want war as countries went through difficult times after it. However, he said those who did not raise his/her voice for the rights of Kashmiris would be called traitor.

Mr Rashid said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had violated the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir while revoking special status of the disputed territory and torn all the agreements related to Kashmir between the two countries.

He said Prime Minister Khan had asked the Planning Commission to expedite work on the Main Line (ML-1) project. “The rehabilitation of 1,800km main track would increase the number of passengers from seven million to 10m per year and also reduce the travel time from Karachi to Lahore.”

He said Tajikistan businessmen were coming to Pakistan via Afghanistan for trade and the present railway track was not in a condition to bear the burden of the freight train to accommodate new trade relations with central Asian states.

He said that as many as 69 old locomotives of China were out of order and if the ML-1 project started then he would manage to repair these locomotives from China free of cost. “Labour colonies will also be constructed under ML-1,” he said.

Responding to a question about Maryam Nawaz’s arrest after she started public meetings to highlight the Kashmir issue, he said she was arrested in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case and this ‘corruption’ case would make the “whole Sharif family diabetic”.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2019