Officials from India and Pakistan on Wednesday returned lists they had swapped a week ago of passengers selected to ride the first buses between Azad and occupied Kashmir in almost 60 years. "We have exchanged lists of confirmed passengers on both the sides," Indian army officer Major Sebastian said, who uses only one name, after meeting at the bridge at the Kaman border post in occupied Kashmir. "We were given a list of 40 people (last week)," said Pakistani official Liaquat Hussain, deputy commissioner of Muzaffarabad.
"So far we have verified the names of some 29 people. By the time we meet next we will be able to verify more names."
On March 22 officials from both the sides met at Odi Post in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to hand over lists for vetting of the passengers selected for the first buses that will begin running April 7 simultaneously between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar.
The re-launch of the service has been hailed not only as a historic boost to peace between the two nuclear rivals but also as a way of reuniting families divided for nearly six decades.
Four groups said in a joint statement issued in occupied Srinagar on Wednesday that those planning to ride the bus would face the consequences of being branded 'traitors'.
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