Pakistan invites India for talks on bus services
Delhi-Lahore vintage car rally to bolster peace
AFP, Islamabad
Pakistan announced yesterday it has offered to hold talks with India in March on starting bus services between their respective zones of Kashmir and between the cities of Kokharpar and Munabao. "The cabinet of Pakistan has offered to India to host technical-level talks on the Kokharpar-Munabao bus service on March 8 to 9 and Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service on March 29 and 30 respectively," foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan told a weekly news briefing. Meanwhile, after delegations of parliamentarians, school children and journalists, it's now the turn of vintage car enthusiasts to make their way to Pakistan to bolster recent peace efforts between the arch-rivals, a report said Monday. More than 100 vintage and classic cars are set to cover the 537km between the Indian capital New Delhi and the northern Pakistani city of Lahore mid-March to promote people-to-people contact, the Hindu newspaper reported. The peace effort is the brainchild of the Heritage Motoring Club of India. Among the cars set to cross the frontiers via the Wagah border -- the only land crossing between the two countries -- is a 1941 Ford Super Deluxe stationwagon, which featured in a Bollywood movie on the bitter partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan in 1947, the report said. Others include a 1956 Chevrolet Belair Sport Sedan, a 1924-25 Morris Oxford and a 1927 Minerva AL. "We at the club have been thinking of chipping in our mite to promote peace and harmony between the two nations," said Navinder Singh, one of the club's founder members. "Holding a peace rally will be the right way to reiterate our commitment towards improving India-Pakistan relations," he added. "Of course, I will also drive one of my cars to Lahore." Singh said members of his club were in touch with their counterparts in Pakistan regarding the organisation of the rally. "We on both sides of the border have approached our respective governments and permission for the peace rally is likely to be granted soon," Singh said. "Other preparations for the proposed historic event are going on as per schedule." According to the plan, Indian vintage cars will drive up to the Wagah border where a fleet of Pakistani classic cars will join them for the drive to Lahore, the report said. The return journey to Delhi will begin with the Pakistani drivers bidding adieu at Wagah to the Indians, who will continue their drive to the Indian capital. Club members are hoping that next year their Pakistani counterparts will make a similar trip to Delhi. India and Pakistan this month announced a resumption of stalled talks aimed at resolving their differences over the Himalyan region of Kashmir, which is divided between them and claimed in full by both.
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