Pakistan and India have agreed to launch trial runs of a fourth bus service to connect their Punjab provinces from Sunday. The Foreign Office, confirming the decision, said on Friday the latest move was to increase people-to-people ties as part of peace process, as it would link Amritsar to Lahore.
The Foreign Office said the trial run of the Amritsar-Lahore bus service would take place on December 11 by the Indian operator and December 13 by the Pakistani operator.
This trial run had earlier been scheduled for October, but was postponed due to the October 8 earthquake. The Lahore-Amritsar bus, covering a 45-kilometre (28 miles) route, will link the two countries via their only international land crossing, at Wagah in Punjab.
Pakistan and India launched their first bus link between New Delhi and Lahore in 1999. The service resumed in July 2003 after being suspended following an attack on India's parliament. The second bus link opened in April this year, connecting the capitals of the Indian and Pakistani-held sectors of Kashmir.
The launch of a fourth bus, aiming to connect Amritsar with Nankana Sahib, a Sikh pilgrimage centre in Pakistan, and dialogues on this fourth bus service would take place on December 20 and 21 in Islamabad, the Foreign Office said.