A whole new chapter was added to the history of rail link between Pakistan and India across the Thar desert when the green-and-yellow Thar Express, which had left Karachi last Friday on its maiden journey to the Indian border town of Munabao, was back Sunday morning.
It had dropped about 165 Pakistanis in the Indian border town of Munabao before coming back hours later with some 260 passengers, officials and journalists to Zero Point at the border, who received a festive welcome and served lunch. Earlier, at Munabao a large number of people cheered and a band played when Thar Express arrived there from Karachi. The train service, which had been suspended following the 1965 war between Pakistan and India, will run once a week, carrying passengers back and forth.
It is, however, just another matter that another other rail link between Attari in Indian Punjab and Lahore, which was suspended between 2002 and 2004, when the two countries appeared to be on the brink of a war over Kashmir, stands already restored. But Lahore being hundreds of kilometres away from Karachi, many of the thousands of divided families living in Sindh, could not benefit from the other opening as much as the people in the north.
For, as it is, Lahore also has two bus links, besides an air link with New Delhi. More to this, Muzaffarabad and Srinagar are also served by a bus service. As against this, the people of Sindh could travel to India only by air from Karachi to New Delhi and Mumbai, thereby having to travel long distances to their destinations in that country.
It will be noted that a beginning of the end of their inconvenience was made when Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad bade farewell to Thar Express on Friday, carrying 200 India-bound visa holding passengers and 137 others, marking the opening of Khokhrapar Border after its closure for 41 years.
It will be recalled that prospects of restoration of Khokhrapar-Munabao had figured two years ago, that is, in the wake of revival of road and air links, and restoration Samjhota Express in 2004. It had then been stated that it had been revived on the basis of an old agreement for a three-year period, and initiation of rail service through 'Khokhrapar' was difficult, as Pakistan had meter-gauge line as against India's broad-gauge.
However, as the process between Pakistan and India continued towards the end of the year, they signed a joint declaration stating that they had agreed to an early resumption of second rail link between the two countries.
But Pakistan sought more time to rebuild the railway track from meter gauge to broad gauge, as the tracks were in a very dilapidated condition, and it would have taken considerable time to replace our narrow gauge 128-km track from Mirpurkhas to the Khokhrapar.
However, it was also pointed out that the rail service from Munabao to Khokhrapar could also be extended to Karachi. Later in April last year, they also agreed to pursue further measures to enhance interaction and co-operation across the Line of Control in Kashmir at the end of President Musharraf's three-day visit to India.
The leaders of the two countries had agreed to re-establish the Khokhrapar-Munabao route by January 1, 2006. It is, however, another matter that it was somewhat delayed for understandable reasons. There is a great deal more to be done to make this beginning serve the desired purpose. One hopes that what remains to be done would be expeditiously accomplished without much loss of time.