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Bus service linking two Kashmirs possible

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

The proposed relaxed visa regime may be a pre-cursor to possible bus service between the two Kashmirs, according to reliable government sources.

The bus service, either from the Jammu side or through the Valley, would be "subject ultimately to the outcome of the Agra summit," a senior official said.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs told reporters that the government has decided to issue visas to Pakistani citizens at Attari in Punjab, Munabau in Rajasthan and some other "designated places in Jammu and Kashmir" where traditional routes existed between the two sides prior to the Partition.

There is no road or rail link between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. But, there are traditional roads and alternative routes between the two sides "which could be revived," he said.

Official circles are discussing two possible road links as potential bus routes if dramatic turnaround happens at the Agra summit.

The most important of the road links is the one running from Srinagar, through Baramullah and Uri on the Indian side, into Pakistan's Domel, from where there are several roads going to Rawalpindi and Muzaffarabad.

The road was blocked off completely about a decade back after militancy raised its head in the Valley. Domel on the Pakistani side is where the Jhelum and Kishenganj rivers meet.

In the old days, during winter this used to be the only road link to Srinagar from the world outside. After Jawahar tunnel came up, Srinagar became accessible from the Jammu side even when the Banihal pass was closed.

There was another alternative access to Srinagar through Uri road from Muzaffarabad through Abbotabad/Haveliyam areas, which is in Pakistani now.

The other possible road link under consideration is the Jammu-Suchetagarh-Sialkot road, which is now completely blocked off. In the pre-Partition days, there was a rail route linking Jammu and Sialkot.

Though a road linking Jammu and Sialkot exists, it is completely cut off from both sides. The road on the Indian side runs through Ranbir Singh Pura, a major rice producing area, where from rice is taken to the rest of the country.

Suchetagarh, on the international border less than 25 miles from Jammu, is the place where Pakistani and Indian Armies met after 1971 to demarcate the Line of Control and ended up creating the present confusion over demarcation beyond point NJ 9842.

The dispute over boundary north of NJ 9842 has led to the battle over Siachen, demilitarisation of which is under active consideration now. From Suchetagarh, Sialkot is only about 15 miles by road.

Lt Gen (retd) K S Khajuria, a former director general of military intelligence, said there are other "routes" as well, but these are not proper roads.

One of the routes, he said, used to run from Rajouri on the Indian side to Mirpur in Pakistan. Mirpur used to be a part of India before Jammu and Kashmir was divided. From Mirpur, there is a road link to Naushera.

"There were several other routes wherever villages existed near the border. Some used to be bus routes, most of them were tracks for mule or horse carts," he said.

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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