Posted on 16-1-2004
India-Pakistan
rail link re-opened
India and Pakistan resumed cross-border rail services today,
ending a two-year freeze imposed when the nuclear-armed rivals
were on the brink of war.
Amid tight security, the Samjhauta Express headed from the
Pakistani city of Lahore to New Delhi, with other trains headed
the opposite direction. Passengers threw rose petals on Indian
border guards riding alongside the Samjhauta Express as it entered
India.
Many passengers were members of families who have relatives
on both sides of the border.
In both cases, the trains stopped at the Indian border town
of Attari to make connections and immigration checks.
Haji Jammu Khan, a 100-year-old man from India-held Jammu and
Kashmir state said he was fulfilling his last wish to visit
an Islamic holy shrine and thanked Indian and Pakistani political
leaders for agreeing to resume the service.
The return of train service comes little more than two weeks
after commercial air flights were also restarted, part of confidence-building
measures that fuelled a thaw allowing the leaders of India and
Pakistan last week to agree to a historic peace dialogue.
Passengers like Shamma Parveen, a 24-year-old Indian woman
married to a Pakistani, who was traveling to India to see her
mother, could barely contain their excitement.
"Right after I stepped into the train, I felt as if I
had hugged my mother," she said.
At Attari, Indian police were on the lookout for terrorists
and smugglers. Indian passengers who had arrived before dawn
and huddled in blankets against the freezing temperatures were
subjected to body and baggage searches as police on horseback
patrolled the station.
The freshly painted Attari Express that brought them from the
Old Delhi railway station was only a quarter full, largely due
to problems with obtaining visas and selling tickets, the Times
of India reported.
The twice-weekly train service is popular among Indian and
Pakistani families separated when the two nations gained independence
from Britain in 1947.
The link was suspended 1 Januaary, 2002, amid rising tensions
after Islamic militants attacked India's Parliament. India accused
Pakistan of backing the militants and the two countries nearly
went to war. Pakistan denied involvement.
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