–Thar Express connects Khokhrapar town in Thar to India’s Munabao village in Rajasthan desert
ISLAMABAD: A day after announcing the discontinuation of the Samjhauta Express to India, Pakistan on Friday said it was also suspending the Thar Express train and the Dosti (friendship) bus service between Lahore and New Delhi.
“As long as I am railways minister, Samjhauta Express and Thar Express will not operate. That’s it,” Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed declared at a press conference in the federal capital.
Thar Express connects Khokhrapar town in Thar to India’s Munabao village located in the Rajasthan desert.
“We don’t want war […] But any person who does not fulfill his commitment with the Kashmiris is a traitor.”
Earlier on Friday, Samjhauta Express departed from Lahore in what is likely to be its last trip for a while.
‘DOSTI BUS SERVICE SUSPENDED’:
Taking to the micro-blogging website Twitter, Federal Minister for Postal Services and Communications Murad Saeed announced that the Lahore-Delhi bus service had been suspended in the wake of recent steps taken by the Indian government in occupied Kashmir.
The decisions have been taken in reaction to India’s decision to revoke Article 370 of the Indian constitution that granted occupied Kashmir special status. In response, Pakistan decided to downgrade diplomatic relations with New Delhi and suspend all bilateral trade.
The government also announced to suspend cultural and trade ties with India and asked New Delhi to withdraw High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria from Islamabad soon after occupied Kashmir was stripped of its autonomy.
Pakistan’s High Commissioner-designate Moinul Haq, who was expected to travel to India on August 16 for assuming charge of his assignment, was stopped from proceeding to Delhi.