ISLAMABAD, Oct 19: Pakistan will shortly make a formal proposal to India on opening the Line of Control (LoC) to facilitate movement of Kashmiri people on both sides of the divide in the aftermath of the earthquake, Foreign Office said on Wednesday.

The move follows India’s positive response to President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s announcement on Tuesday that Pakistan was ready to open LoC to allow Kashmiris from the other side to come and join their relatives in this hour of tragedy.

“Currently internal discussions are taking place. We hope to contact the government of India shortly,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told Dawn on Wednesday.

The proposal would be made through diplomatic channels.

“We hope the proposal on Kashmiris’ travel would facilitate contact between Kashmiris on both sides of LoC so that divided families can meet, share each others’ grief and help each other in whatever way they can,” the spokesperson added.

She pointed out that the president had given broad outlines of what could be done, underling that the proposal had the welfare of Kashmiri people as its foremost priority.

Earlier, Pakistan had proposed extension of mobile phone service in Azad Jammu and Kashmir to the other side of LoC on a permanent basis.

Commenting on Indian reaction to the president’s announcement she said: “We are happy to see a positive initial response from India.”

When asked about the next step, the spokesperson said: “We would like to proceed to work out the modalities at the earliest.”

Given that the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus route has been badly damaged by the devastating earthquake, alternate routes would have to be identified. Poonch-Rawalakot route is one that has also been part of the ongoing discussions aimed at facilitating increased interaction between the Kashmiris. Meeting points along the LoC and increased intra-Kashmiri dialogue are also part of the discussions.

Foot-crossings could be possible on this route right away but to make it pliable two to three months would be required, it is learnt. Rawalakot is about five kilometres from the LoC.

Foot-crossings between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad were allowed till mid Fifties.

Modalities including routes and mode of travel would be taken up at the diplomatic-level once the proposal is formalized and gets the green light from New Delhi. The modalities would then be worked out by the two DGMOs (Director-Gen Military Operations), it is learnt.

Unlike the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service that is available also to Pakistani and Indian nationals, the facility of alternate routes would be limited to only the Kashmiris.

Though the Foreign Office spokesperson maintained that to the day there has been no formal official communication on the matter, it is believed that there may have been some discussions on the proposal through the informal back-channel.