India and Pakistan may have agreed to start buses between Srinagar and Muazaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, but the service is unlikely to become a reality before March 2004.
Mehbooba Mufti, member of Parliament from Anantnag and the president of the ruling People's Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir, told rediff.com that the state government would need at least two to three months to put things in order before the service starts.
"See, first of all no decision has been taken as yet whether the bus service will get operational soon. We have already prepared a blueprint of the route that the bus is going to follow. But we will need at least two to three months to prepare the roads and set up other necessary infrastructure like cafeterias and rest houses. We will be ready in three months but I do not know what is the position on the other side," she said.
She said that her government is ready to start a bus service between Jammu and Sialkot as well.
During their meeting in New Delhi, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Shaukat Aziz had given their approval to start the service as a confidence-building measure.
Indian and Pakistani official are scheduled to meet on December 7 and 8 in New Delhi to finalise details like whether those travelling by the bus will need travel documents and the costs.