Amritsar: A Pakistani bus, which arrived in Amritsar on Tuesday, completed the second and final phase of the trial run of the Amritsar-Lahore bus service, which is expected to be operational by the end of December.
The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) luxury coach, named ?Punj Aab? or Land of the five rivers, covered the about 60 km distance from Lahore to Amritsar in about an hour.
The bus carrying nine Pakistani officials made a 20-minute halt at the Wagah check post.
The delegation on crossing the Wagah check post was given a rousing welcome by Punjab government officials who had undertaken the first trial run from Amritsar to Lahore on board an Indian Volvo coach on Sunday.
The Indian team had returned on Monday after overnight stay in Lahore.
?The Lahore-Amritsar link will be a success and another binding force between India and Pakistan,'' PTDC Managing Director Hashim Khan said.
About opening visa offices in Lahore and Amritsar, he said that the decision would be taken by the External Affairs Ministries of the two countries.
When pointed out that Pakistan had ruled out the opening of the visa office in Lahore and Amritsar, he said, ''decisions can be changed for the convenience of people.''
Other members of the Pakistani delegation included Mr Hasan Nawaz, West Punjab Secretary Tourism, Mr Khalid Sultan DC Lahore and tourism officials Anwar Sajid, Shahid Iqbal, Shajid Iqbal, Arshad Ali and Tarqi Nisar.
The trial run of the Amritsar-Lahore service was originally scheduled for October but postponed because of the October 8 earthquake.
Comments
0 comment