Pakistan took a decision to restrict the Delhi-lahore bus service to Wagah Border after Indian security agencies reportedly alerted the Pakistani authorities about a possible terror attack. India has reciprocated the measure. Accordingly, from December 31, 2014, the bus service was restricted to the respective sides, and instead of a single-bus journey, the passengers now have to change buses at Attari-Wagah border on both sides.
This means passengers leaving for New Delhi and Amritsar from lahore will now have to disembark at Wagah and shift to another bus on the Indian side. Similarly, those travelling to lahore from India will disembark at Attari to switch buses. An official of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) told agencies that a decision has been taken in the wake of growing terror threats particularly after the Taliban attack at an Army-run school in Peshawar. The Pakistan Government is not taking chances with regard to security matters.
“Although it will cause hassles for the passengers of the both sides but we have taken the steps for their security,” the official said. “If there are security concerns that Pakistan is expressing on its side then it is for Pakistan to decide what is in their best interest in terms of security,” said External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruuddin in Gandhinagar.
“It (the bus service) is an initiative which our former PM and the PM of Pakistan took way back. We hope that it will ply in accordance with their vision and if there are temporary aberrations, we hope these will be sorted,” Akbaruuddin said. The bus service, known as Dosti, was initiated in 1999 by then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan Premier Nawaz Sharif to improve people-to-people contact between the two nations.