The Hindu : India, Pak. settle Lahore bus dues

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Saturday, Jun 21, 2003

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India, Pak. settle Lahore bus dues

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI JUNE 20. The visiting officials of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) and those of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) today settled the accounts between the two corporations, paving the way for resumption of the Delhi-Lahore bus service.

Under the agreement, the PTDC would send a cheque for Rs. 19,69,104 to the DTC within five or six days as full and final settlement of their accounts for the previous run of buses between Delhi and Lahore.

At the end of two-day discussions, the Deputy Managing Director of the PTDC, Azfar Shafqat, said that "there was no difference of opinion on both sides and they were both prepared for launch of the service from July 1.''

Exchanging a handshake with the DTC Chairman and Managing Director, A.J.S. Sahney, he said the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere.

Averring that all the issues have been settled, Mr. Shafqat said while the first day was spent on finalising the logistics of the operations, the second day focused on finalising the accounts.

As for the running of the buses, he said, issue of visa was of utmost importance. "We can only take bookings and issue tickets once the visas are ready.'' On whether the two Governments had assured that they would expedite the issue of visas, he again remarked: "Governments never assure, they only agree.'' He, however, said he had the approval of the "higher-ups'' on all important issues.

Senior DTC officials said the insistence of an early start could well mean that the four drivers who were in operation earlier — Seth Singh, Brahm Dev, Sohan Singh and Praveen Kumar — would again travel to Pakistan.

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