ISLAMABAD, Oct 20: A minister said on Thursday he would take 25 truckloads of relief goods to the quake-hit part of occupied Kashmir if New Delhi agree to open up the disputed border.

“Once the formalities for opening the Line of Control (LoC) to facilitate movement of Kashmiris are finalised, I will take 25 trucks of relief goods to the occupied Kashmir for the people affected by the earthquake,” Information Minister Sheikh Rashid told AFP.

Mr Rashid’s proposal comes two days after President Pervez Musharraf called for Kashmiris to be allowed to cross the LoC to help relatives stricken by the massive quake.

Rashid said India had not yet been informed of his aid plans.

“I will first go to the Uri district and then visit other areas of Kashmir,” added the minister, whose own family descended from the held Kashmir.

Leading Kashmiri separatist Yasin Malik, speaking to AFP Wednesday on a visit to Pakistan, criticized India for not allowing foreign aid workers to enter its part of Kashmir.—AFP