The tragedy wrought by the quake brought India and Pakistan one more step closer with both countries announcing setting up of telephone services on either side of Line of Control to facilitate communication between the people of divided Kashmir on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] instructed the Telecom Department to set up four Telecom Facilitation Centres at Srinagar [Images], Jammu, Uri and Tangdhar to enable families in Jammu and Kashmir [Images] to contact their relatives and family members on the other side of the Line of Control.

These centres would permit people in the state, who have relatives in Muzaffarabad, to contact them on telephone free of charge for the next fortnight, an official release said. The centres are expected to be operational from Wednesday. In Islamabad, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said mobile telephone service would be extended to Kashmiris living near the LoC.

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