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Bus to Pakistan

It will be a symbolic ride for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee aboard the inaugural Delhi-Lahore bus route on Saturday, February 20, but hopes are high on both sides of the border that the trip will prove to be a milestone in relations between India and Pakistan.

Official sources said Vajpayee will fly to Amristar and then take a chopper to Gharinda, six km from the Wagah border. He is scheduled to address a public meeting at Gharinda. Thereafter, he will board the bus at Gharinda and undertake the journey to Wagah by road.

At Wagah, he will be accorded a reception by his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharief. After the ceremony, the two prime ministers will fly to Lahore in a helicopter.

Indian and Pakistani officials have given final touches to Vajpayee's programme. Fool-proof arrangements are being made for the prime minister's security in the wake of threats by hardliners in Pakistan that they will protest against his visit.

The prime minister will spend the night in Lahore.

On Sunday, Sharief and Vajpayee are scheduled to hold talks in which nuclear and Kashmir issues are expected to figure prominently.

The prime minister will fly directly to Delhi from Lahore on the night of February 21. It is not clear if Sharief will accompany Vajpayee to Delhi. Unconfirmed reports from Islamabad have suggested that he may do so.

UNI

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