India and Pakistan opened the third road link between the two countries on Friday as the first Lahore-Amritsar bus crossed the Joint Check Post at the Wagah border.
It arrived in Amritsar a little behind the scheduled time of 11.30 am.
Named 'Dosti' (friendship), the Pakistani bus will arrive in Amirtsar every Friday and return the following day. The Indian bus 'Punj Aab' (named after five rivers in the state) will leave every Tuesday to return on Wednesday.
The trial run on the Amritsar-Lahore bus route had been completed in December. Two road links operational earlier were the Delhi-Lahore and Srinagar-Muzarfarabad links, while the only open rail link is between Lahore and Attari.
Two more road and rail links are expected to become operational in February, when the Munnabao-Khokrapar train and Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus services will start. These have all been positive, confidence building measures, bringing the people of India and Pakistan closer.
Photograph: Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images
