Monday, July 11 2005 14:59 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: The Lahore-Amritsar bus service will start by July end. The Punjab province government has approved its run thrice a week. This bus route had been discussed and approved by India and Pakistan recently.

"The federal government asked us about logistics, security and other issues relating to the bus service and we told them that everything was ready on our side and the service could start as early as the end of this month," a senior Punjab Tourism Ministry official was quoted by a daily as saying.

India and Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Islamabad in May to start a bus on the 56-kilometre route. However, at the time of signing the MoU, both sides were not sure of the details of the service, including its frequency and other arrangements.

"There are no logistics or any other issues. The only issue is security, which will be dealt by federal agencies and not by us," the official told 'Daily Times', adding "the service will run thrice a week on alternate days. It won't run on the days that the Lahore-Delhi bus operates."

However, he said no progress had yet been made on the proposed Nankana Sahib-Amritsar bus service. The proposed Lahore-Amritsar will start from Gulberg in Lahore, while the bus from Amritsar will leave from International Youth Hostel in the Golden temple city.