SRINAGAR, Oct 19: Indian Kashmiris on Wednesday made direct phone calls to the Pakistani side of the divided state for the first time in 15 years to try to contact relatives after the devastating earthquake.

India announced on Tuesday night it would lift restrictions on telephone links to Azad Kashmir which were imposed to deter an insurgency that began in 1989.

The first call was placed by Abdul Gani, 65, from the police control room in Srinagar to Muzaffarabad, police and witnesses said.

“I was very happy to know that my relatives are OK,” Mr Gani told reporters after the call.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened personally to restore phone links after repeated demands from across the social spectrum in the held Kashmir where divided families were frantic for news of relatives after the 7.6-magnitude quake hit Oct 8.

The state-run Department of Telecommunications has set up four telephone centres — two in the worst-hit districts of Uri and Tangdar, officials said.—AFP