Pak-Afghan bus service resumed formally on Friday after a gap of 27 years when a Jalalabad bound bus of a local private transport company carrying 22 passengers crossed over Durand Line at Torkham. The bus would be later extended to Kabul and Kandhar shortly.
The service has been resumed in light of the agreement signed between President General Pervez Musharraf and President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai last year. For implementation of the decision resuming bus service, Pakistan constituted a steering committee, which had a number of rounds and started the service on experimental basis in March.
The service is being run on public-private partnership basis and daily six buses would crossed the border from each country carrying 37 passengers, driver, cleaner and two security guards. The bus would also be provided security while passing through the tribal area of Khyber Agency till Torkham border.
The passengers of the bus would be required to have complete travelling documents including passport and visa of the country concerned. The passenger would be insured and in case of incident they would be paid compensation.
The formal launching ceremony of the service was held in a simple ceremony as none of the important government official from both sides attended the meeting. However, Provincial Minister for Transport, Akhtar Nawaz Khan was present along with the senior officials of his department to inaugurate the service.
The launching ceremony was attended by officials of foreign office, ministry of communication and senior officials of Afghan Consulate in Peshawar besides a large number of general public.
Briefing the newsmen about bus service, Secretary to the government of NWFP on Transport, Noor-ul-Haq said that the people of both Pakistan and Afghanistan have been tied in the bonds of religion, language and culture relations. He said that the cordial brotherly and friendly relations always remain intact irrespective of disputes between the government of both countries.
He said that the private company running the service would provide international standard travelling facilities to their passengers, saying that a bus terminal of international standard would be constructed shortly at Karkhano Market Hayatabad. He said that very soon the service would be extended to Kabul and Kandhar cities of Afghanistan.
Saifullah Khan Marwat, an official of the camp office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the resumption of the bus service would help promote legal movement along Pak-Afghan border and more people would like to utilise the service for travelling between both countries.
He said that Pakistani export largely depends on the route of bus adding that Afghanistan bound transit goods also crossed over to the neighbouring country through the route. He said that security personnel would be deployed on road to provide security to the buses and its passengers.
Speaking on the occasion, Provincial Minister for Transport, Akhtar Nawaz Khan said that the people of both countries have close relations, adding that Pakistani nation has always stood by their Afghan brethren in all thick and thins. He was hopeful that the people of both countries would keep their spirit alive in future also.
He said that like Peshawar, thousands of Afghan refugees also residing in Hazara and such kind of bus service would also be started from Abbottabad to Jalalabad and extends the facilities to Afghan refugees leaving in refugees camps of Hazara.