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India, Pakistan differ on schedule
Frontier minister rejects Musharraf’s Kashmir plan |
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India, Pakistan differ on schedule to start rail link Islamabad, December 2 On the opening day of the two-day talks today, India suggested running the trains by September next year after carrying out necessary track repairs while Pakistan said it required two years to make the infrastructure ready for commencing the service between Munabao in Rajasthan and Khokrapar in Pakistan’s Sindh province, state-run PTV reported. Indian officials said the two sides differed on the schedule to run the train service. “It appeared that Pakistan is not very keen to run the train service,” an Indian official, who attended the talks, said on condition of anonymity. The PTV report, quoting officials, was aired even when the talks were underway between the two sides. External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh had recently said India was hopeful that the rail link would be restored by October 2 next year. Pakistan, however, remained non- committal. A seven-member Indian delegation headed by Mr L.R. Thapar, Additional Member of Railway Board, held talks with Pakistani delegation led by the Secretary Railways Board, Mr Zaeem Chaudhry. Earlier, Mr Chaudhry sounded optimistic about the talks and said a “breakthrough” was likely. “I think the two sides agree that the talks should produce good results to benefit the people of the two countries. The restoration of the railway link will be a gift for the people of the two countries,” Mr Chaudhry said. The restoration of tracks, number of trains and passengers, and other related issues would be discussed during the two-day talks, another Pakistani official said. If agreed, it will be the second train service between the two countries. Both countries at present run the Samjhotha Express train between Lahore and Attari, besides a bus service between Lahore and New Delhi. Ahead of the talks, officials of Pakistan’s Railways Ministry said no rail track existed between Khokhrapar and Munabao and it would be a daunting task to place new track on the route. Both sides would take final decision after the conclusion of technical-level talks, they said. Surprisingly, Pakistani officials said in view of the difficulties in restoring the train service, a road link would be preferred over the rail link. Earlier, this year the two sides explored the possibility to resume a bus link between the two border towns through similar talks. The proposal had been abandoned after Pakistan said the repair work would take a long time. After that the two sides agreed to discuss possibility to restore rail links. The Pakistani officials said the reopening of the Khokhrapar-Munabao route was a long-standing demand of people from both countries, especially those living on both sides of the border. The rail link which was functional until 1965 served as the trade route to the Karachi port before Partition. About Rs 650 million had been sought for initial phase of the project to upgrade the track, a Pakistani official said.
— PTI |
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Frontier minister rejects Musharraf’s Kashmir plan Muzaffarabad, December 2 He was speaking at an Id Millan party organised by the AJK Jamaat-i-Islami here. The Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sardar Ejaz Afzal presided over the function. Mr Haq said acceptance of General Musharraf’s proposal would mean wasting the sacrifices of Kashmiri people, which was unacceptable not only to the people of Kashmir but also to the people of Pakistan. “No individual has a right to float such unacceptable proposals without holding a prior debate on them in parliament or taking the national parties and jihadi and political leadership of Kashmir into confidence,” he said. Participants raised their hands when he asked them to show their rejection of General Musharraf’s suggestion. “Those who got tired of the Kashmir jihad have not shed a single drop of their blood for this cause. In fact the blood has been offered by the Kashmiris who are still firm in their stand, but the Pakistani rulers are now scared despite living in a safe place in Islamabad,” Mr Haq said. He said any decision about the jihad would be taken by the mujahideen and not by those living in Islamabad. The Kashmiris, he said, had not offered sacrifices for the restoration of cricket or trade ties or for the resumption of any bus service between India and Pakistan, but for the implementation of the UN resolutions which gave them an opportunity to decide their fate on their free will. The NWFP minister said the people of the Frontier province were emotionally attached to the Kashmiris and had been offering sacrifices for the cause since 1947. “Even today, we are ready to offer sacrifices. If Syed Ali Geelani makes an appeal, hundreds of thousands of youth would say yes to it,” he said, pointing out that there were 2,200 graves of the people from his Dir district alone in Kashmir. Mr Haq said he had come to Muzaffarabad to convey a message to the Kashmiris on behalf of 150 million Muslims of Pakistan that “we were with you and we are with you until you achieve your goal”. He said the Muslim Ummah was facing problems due to weak leaders. “At present the Ummah’s condition is like an army without a general or a garden without a gardener which is why the rulers of the Muslim world support infidels in the battle between the right and the wrong,” he said, adding that the Ummah needed a true and bold leadership more than Atom bombs, huge armies and other resources. |
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Over 1,000 die in Philippines
floods
Real (Philippines), December 2 Residents of towns hit by floods have now fled to higher ground to escape an approaching powerful typhoon whipping them with rain and wind and threatening more destruction. “Based on reports from our troops in the field, they have listed 479 dead and 560 missing in three towns in Quezon province,” said military spokesman Lt-Col Buenaventura Pascual. Typhoon Nanmadol had gained strength and was expected to make landfall close to the worst flood-affected areas on the eastern coast late today, packing winds of 185 kph and on course to sweep through the main northern island of Luzon. With flying conditions treacherous and roads cut off, disaster officials said they could do little to protect thousands of people made homeless by this week's floods and who were running short of food and drinking water. “We are very concerned and we are not sure how we can avoid further casualties in these areas,” Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said. “If you go on the slopes, the ground is very loose. If you go on (lower) ground, the water can rise and you might have mudslides.”
— Reuters |
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