US, UN hail resumption of Kashmir bus service
By Khalida Mazhar - Pakistan Times Foreign Correspondent

NEW YORK (US): The United States Thursday congratulated the leadership of Pakistan and India for the resumption of bus service through the disputed State of Jammu and Kashmir after about 58 years.

"We certainly welcome this historic development", a State Department official told The Nation in a telephone interview from Washington. "We're are pleased."

The bus service began despite Wednesday's attack against bus riders in Srinagar, the capital of occupied Kashmir, that the world strongly condemned.

"We applaud the leaders of India and Pakistan for their statesmanship and efforts to reduce tensions. They will continue to have our strong support as they resolve their differences peacefully through dialogue", the official, who declined to be named, said.

The official also applauded the bus passengers for their courage to travel in the face of the threats from militants who, he said, did not want peace in Kashmir.

Kofi Annan

Meanwhile at the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan also welcomed the inauguration of the bus service linking the two parts of Kashmir controlled by India and Pakistan.

In a statement through his spokesman Fred Eckhard, Annan said, "Despite the security challenges it faces, the bus service is a powerful gesture of peace and an opportunity to reunite families divided for nearly sixty years".

He reiterated his hope that this important step will lead to further progress towards improving conditions for the divided population and the resolution of all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan.

The Kashmir dispute between two nuclear-armed neighbours remains on the agenda of the Security Council, which adopted resolutions some 57 years ago, calling for a UN-supervised plebiscite to decide the future of the Himalayan State.

Yet all those resolutions upholding the Kashmiri people's right to self-determination, remain unimplemented to-date.●