Indo-Pak to swap JK bus list of 30 passengers soon Sunday, March 27 2005 19:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -
New Delhi:
India and Pakistan will exchange this week the list of 30 passengers who will travel by the first bus between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad on April seven.
India received a list of 40 people from Pakistan, which was being scrutinised by security agencies from which 30 would be finalized, official sources said in New Delhi.
The sources said during the initial scrutiny of the list, as many as 15 people wanting to go to Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu region had been cleared for travel while the majority of the remaining wanted to visit Uri in North Kashmir.
They said the date of second bus service had been finalised for April 22 for which the process of scrutiny of passengers' names would be set in motion immediately after clearing the first list, they added.
The first Indian list comprises people from divided families mainly from Rajouri, Poonch and other bordering districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
The bus would be flagged off by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from Srinagar.
Passengers travelling in the first bus would be decided on first-come-first serve basis and the fare would be Rs 750 with a visa of up to 30 days.