In pursuance of the agreement between India and Pakistan to open crossing points on the Line of Control to facilitate the movement of people and earthquake relief material, two point have been opened up.

Army officers from India and Pakistan opened up the frontier point Chakhan-Da-Bag in Poonch district on Monday. Hundreds of locals converged on this remote post to witness the historic occasion in a bid to meet their relatives separated for nearly half a century as the army officers of the two sides exchanged white flags and hugged each other to formally declare open the post.

A surcharged crowd on the Pakistani side chanting slogans tried to cross into the Indian side prompting the police to fire tear gas shells to stop their advance.

The second point was opened on Wednesday at the Kaman Post in north Kashmir's Uri sector. Relief goods including blankets, tents, rice, sugar and tea were handed over by the state authorities to their Pakistani counterparts while the Pakistani authorities also handed over relief materials, mostly food items and blankets to the officials of the Jammu and Kashmir government.

The opening of the third crossing point was delayed because of incomplete infrastructural work.

Pakistani and Indian army officers shake hands before opening a second crossing point for aid supplies on the Line of Control in Uri, on November 09, 2005.

Photograph: TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/Getty Images

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