Delhi Transport Corporation on Monday cancelled the bus service between the city and Lahore in Pakistan two days after the Imran Khan government discontinued it in protest against India’s decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and bifurcate it into Union territories, PTI reported.
The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation had informed the corporation over phone about suspension of the service on Saturday. The last bus for Lahore left Delhi that morning carrying two passengers, while the return bus from the other side reached the national Capital with 19 passengers that evening. The bus used to run six days a week.
The bus service was first started in February 1999 but suspended after the 2001 Parliament attack in India. It was restarted in July 2003. Pakistan, which has fought three wars with India over Kashmir, has downgraded diplomatic ties, suspended bilateral trade, and halted the Samjhauta Express and Thar Express train services between the two countries.
On August 9, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi visited Beijing to seek China’s support to move the United Nations Security Council against India’s moves. The foreign minister warned India’s actions were an “enhanced threat” to peace and security in the region, and said the Imran Khan government feared more bloodshed in Kashmir in coming days.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, meanwhile, lashed out at the Narendra Modi government on Sunday and compared the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to that of the Nazis. The Bharatiya Janata Party is an affiliate of the RSS. He alleged the curfew, crackdown and “impending genocide of Kashmiris” in Jammu and Kashmir was unfolding according to the RSS’ ideology.
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