Kashmir bus service talks from April 8: foreign office

Technical level talks for launching bus service between Muzzaffarabad and Srinagar will be held here on April 8 and 9, Foreign Office spokesman announced here on Saturday.
Speaking at his news briefing on Saturday, he said that official delegations would be reviewing the progress of construction work of the old Srinagar-Kohala Road on both sides of the line of control.
On the Azad Kashmir side, the work to re-carpet and straighten most of the contours has progressed well and the road builders are near-about the Chinari-Chikothi sector.
On the Indian occupied side of the Jhelum Valley, the road is being resurfaced in Uri Tehsil.
The spokesman said that other technical questions, like size and type of vehicles and frequency of service, would also be discussed at the meeting.
Pakistan favours the launching of bus service on this route but has some reservations on its handling. It wants the job to be assigned to the United Nations officials.
That would also include the issuance of travel documents on both sides and also the manning of the entry points by the United Nations.
About grant of major non-Nato ally (MNNA) status by the United States and varying reactions being expressed in that country, the spokesman said that these are internal affairs of that country and for the Bush Administration to handle.
However, he said, so far Washington has not informed Islamabad officially about this decision. And when the Bush Administration in this regard relays its notification, Pakistan would examine its all aspects, he added.
He reiterated that Pakistan would take decisions on any demands which are made as an ally according to the dictates of its national interest.
The spokesman rejected suggestions that recent actions by Pakistan in the internal field were means to provide a tacit support to George Bush in America and Prime Minister Vajpayee in India to win the current elections.
He said that the Foreign Office was in contact with the government at Tashkent which wants return of the Uzbek nationals caught in South Waziristan. However, there had been no such demand made by Moscow about the Chechen nationals, he said.