The ‘Karvan-e-Aman’ bus service that operates between Srinagar and PoK’s capital Muzaffarabad resumed.
The Srinagar–Muzaffarabad Bus is a passenger bus service connecting Srinagar, the capital of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir with Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-administered territory of Azad Kashmir across the Line of Control (LoC) — the boundary line denoting rival areas of control in the disputed region of Kashmir, but which is not an official international border.
The bus service resumed and passengers from this side and from Muzaffarabad will travel through LoC via Kaman Post in Uri sector in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Kaman Post is the last Indian military post on this side of LoC in Uri sector.
Karvan e Bus Aman service is a major Confidence Building Measure (CBM) between India and Pakistan after 1999 Kargil War, that started on April 7, 2005. This has helped thousands of families, to meet each other after India and Pakistan agreed to allow travel from both sides on travel permits, instead of international passports.
The bus runs a distance of 170 kilometres. The bus service was officially launched on April 7, 2005 and was flagged-off by the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
In India, all citizens would have to apply at the Regional Passport Office in Srinagar, which was the designated authority to evaluate applications, verify identities and issue entry permits.
The Indian government has proposed improving travel permit procedures, increasing the frequency of the bus service to weekly instead of a fortnight, and starting bus services connecting Kargil, India, with Skardu, Pakistan, and Jammu, India, with Sialkot, Pakistan.
The bus is of symbolic importance to the efforts of the two nations’ governments to foster peaceful and friendly relations and follows the success of the Delhi–Lahore Bus, which was launched in 1999.