Kashmir-to-PoK bus may hit a roadblock

<div class="section0"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">NEW DELHI: The much-hyped bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad in Pak-occupied Kashmir is likely to breakdown even before it gets off the proposal stage.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">On paper, both countries are in favour of the bus service and their official pronouncements have been unequivocally positive.In private, however, each side says the other is not really serious about the proposal and is only looking to score propaganda points. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">Whatever the truth, the fact remains that technical talks to discuss the modalities of the service have already been postponed twice. And all indications are that the two specific points on which India and Pakistan are deadlocked still remain unresolved. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">The first concerns travel documents and the second, the composition of the delegation for the technical talks. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">When India first mooted the bus proposal last year, Pakistan responded by saying that passengers aboard the bus would have to carry UN documents. Though Islamabad subsequently gave the impression that it would not insist on this point, senior Pakistani officials have told TOI that the travel documents issue would very much be on the table whenever talks are held. ''''It is the Kashmiris who are saying they don''t want to move within Kashmir carrying passports'''', the official claimed. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">But even before India and Pakistan cross swords on the ''modalities'' of the bus service, including immigration and customs formalities, there is a more fundamental problem that has to be resolved: who will do the talking. In May, Pakistan had objected to the inclusion of transport officials from J&K state being part of the Indian delegation for the technical talks on the bus service. And India too, presumably, would not be keen to sit across the table with transport officials from ''Azad Jammu Kashmir''. </span></div> </div>