Thirty-six PoK residents are over-staying in Jammu and Kashmir, while 28 Indian nationals are stuck in PoK, following suspension of "peace bus" service between India and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir after the arrest of a Pakistani driver, an official said on Thursday.
The standoff between the two countries reached the 14th day after the driver from across the Line of Control was arrested on recovery of brown sugar valued at Rs 100 crore from his vehicle. "Due to the shutdown of peace bus and trade by Pakistan, 36 PoK residents are over-staying in Jammu and Kashmir as of today," Trade Facilitation Officer (TFO), Poonch, Bashir Lone told.
84 Pakistan-occupied Kashmir residents are staying with their relatives in J~~amp;amp;K after crossing over to this side via cross-LoC bus service, he said. "We have written to the authorities in this regard to take up the matter with their counterparts as no cross-border traveller can stay here beyond the maximum period of 42 days," the TFO said.
Similarly, 53 Indian nationals are staying in PoK with their relatives after crossing to that side on peace bus as of January 30, he said. Out of them, 28 Indian nationals are overstaying in PoK, he said. Army authorities shut the gates on the cross-LoC peace bus and refused to open gates at Chakan-Da-Bagh border point on Poonch-Rawalakote LoC road on January 19.
India has proposed a meeting of the official-level Joint Working Group with Pakistan on trans-LoC CBMs in the second week of February amidst the continuing stand-off. Pakistan, through diplomatic channels, has also been asked that it "must share with us information with regard to their investigations of the 'consigner' of these drugs".
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