No Karwan-e-Aman cross-LoC bus today on Pak ID

There will be no Karwan-e-Aman bus service, operating between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) today, when Pakistan is celebrating its Independence Day (ID). The weekly bus was suspended on July 31st between the two sides after a message was received from Pakistan that there is a holiday in PoK on account of 14th death anniversary of founding president of PoK Sardar Mohammad Ibrahim Khan.

However, the weekly bus resumed last week when 178 passengers, including 53 fresh guests from PoK cross sided at the Kaman post, the last Indian military post on this side of the Line of Control (LoC) at Uri. We have received from PoK that bus will not operate tomorrow due to holiday on account of Pak ID, official sources told UNI. They said all those who were scheduled to travel in the bus today will be accommodated next week. The bus service, a major Confidence Building Measure (CBM) between India and Pakistan after 1999 Kargil War, continued despite unrest in Kashmir in 2016 and tension on the LoC, due to ceasefire violation and subsequent surgical strike by Indian troops in the PoK.

The cross-LoC bus service started on April 7, 2005 despite opposition by militant organisations has helped thousands of families, divided in 1947 due to partition, to meet each other after India and Pakistan agreed to allow travel of state subjects from both sides on travel permits, instead of international passport. The travel permit is issued to the state subject from both sides of the LoC, only after their names are cleared by the intelligence agencies from India and Pakistan. However, only state subjects from both sides can avail the cross-LoC bus facility.