Thirty-seven Pakistanis who came to Delhi last week to participate in the 9th Delhi Book Fair are stranded.

At the Pakistani stall at Pragati Maidan, they jokingly ask customers to offer them accommodation for a few days.

They are supposed to leave on September 2, when the fair comes to an end, but the Delhi Transport Corporation, which manages the Sada-e-Sarhad bus service to Lahore, has "no room till September 26".

The Pakistanis could not buy return tickets because there is no such provision.

A Pakistani high commission official told rediff.com that he had discussed the issue of return tickets with his Indian counterparts.

"It cannot be done till the existing contract comes to an end in 2004. Till then no amendment could be made in the existing provisions," he added.

They will probably have to return to their country by foot, because there is no direct flight or rail ties between India and Pakistan.

"We have asked the (Indian) Ministry of External Affairs to allow them to walk across the borders. We are waiting for the reply," the official said.

He said on two occasions, the Indian government had allowed people to cross the borders on foot when bus seats were not available.

"There is a precedence so we hope they will allow this time also. We are planning to send them to the border by train or car or any other arrangement and then they can cross the border on foot. They will manage on their own once they reach Pakistan."

The team came to Delhi by bus on August 22, the day the fair started, and the first thing it did was to rush to the DTC counter to buy tickets. But by then, seats were already booked till September 26.

It was after three years that Pakistanis were allowed to participate in the fair. India had snapped all travel links with its neighbour after the attack on Parliament in December 2001.

However, the bus service was renewed in July, giving an opportunity to Pakistanis to once again participate in the fair.

Now there is a heavy rush for the Delhi-Lahore bus because it is cheaper (Rs850 for one way) than airfare.

Ahmed Ali Sheikh, convenor of Pakistan's International Book Fair and Export Committee, is leading the team of Pakistan Publishers and Book Sellers Association.

He said: "We have written to both the governments but nobody has replied so far. We don't know what to do.

"We cannot afford to take a flight."

A DTC official said: "What can we do? We cannot cancel other passengers' tickets. And there are little chances that anybody will get his ticket cancelled because they get it after so much of difficulty."

The team brought some 2,000 books via air, less than half the number that used to be brought before the travel restrictions were imposed.

Sheikh said: "Earlier we used to bring the books through trains. But that (train service) has been stopped. And they don't take huge luggage in the bus. So we had to bring the books by aircraft.

"This has become such a costly affair for us. The fright charges on the train was just Rs2 per kg but we are now paying Rs120 per for to the aircraft.

"The sale is also as much the books are."

But he added: "There is no difference in the enthusiasm of customers. They come searching for us. We have come here after three years. We are doing good business."