56 PoK guests arrive, a Kashmiri cross to another side of LoC

Twenty four returnees also crossed sides at the Kaman post in Uri sector, using the Karvan-e-Aman service.
Indian Army at the LoC (File photo | PTI)
Indian Army at the LoC (File photo | PTI)

SRINAGAR: As many as 56 guests from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) arrived here on Monday while only one Kashmiri resident crossed over to other side of the Line of Control (LoC) to meet their relatives, separated in 1947 due to partition.

Twenty four returnees also crossed sides at the Kaman post in Uri sector, using the Karvan-e-Aman service, operating between Kashmir and Muzaffarabad, capital of PoK.

Official sources told UNI that 56 residents of PoK, including 20 women and 14 children, arrived at Kaman Post after crossing the Aman Setu (the peace bridge) on foot.

The number of guests coming from PoK goes up during summers and comes down during winters.

On the contrary, the number of Kashmiris visiting PoK comes down during summers and goes up during winters.

Four Kashmiris, including a woman and a child, who had gone to PoK in previous buses, also returned after completing their stay.

Only one resident of Kashmir crossed over to other side of LoC to meet their relatives.

Meanwhile, 22 PoK residents who had arrived here in previous buses, returned to their homes after completing their stay here.

They included five women and as many children.

The inter cross-LoC bus service was one of the major Confidence Building Measures (CBM) taken by India and Pakistan, after both the countries agreed for a ceasefire on LoC and the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir, in 2003.

The peace bus service has been operating, despite repeated attempts by the militants to sneak into this side from PoK after the higher reaches close due to snowfall for winter months.

The bus has since helped thousands of divided families to meet each other.

However, only state subjects from both the sides are eligible to travel in the bus, after their names are cleared by the intelligence agencies from both the sides.

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The New Indian Express
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