LAHORE: The train service between Pakistan and India resumed on Monday as security situation between the South Asian neighbours improved after weeks of heightened tensions.
The Samjhota Express carrying 195 passengers left for Attari via Wagah border. The train runs between the two countries on Mondays and Thursdays.
On February 28, the train operation was suspended, leaving Indian passengers stuck at Lahore Railway Station.
Meanwhile, a group of 96 Sikh pilgrims reached Pakistan via Wagah border to attend their religious ceremonies. Sikh pilgrims from Canada, US and England reached Lahore from New Delhi on Monday.
The pilgrims asserted that they do not feel frightened on reaching Pakistan despite recent escalation between the two countries. “We feel like we have come to our second home,” they said after arriving in Lahore.
After visiting their religious places in Lahore, the group will depart for Nankana Sahib. The visit will conclude in five days, after which the Sikh pilgrims will leave for India via Wagah border.
The government has also accorded approval to the Sikh pilgrims from India for their visit to the country and also approved the schedule of Baisakhi Festival 2019 due in April.
According to the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), Pakistan will issue visas to 3,000 Indian Yatris for pilgrimage for 10 days. Prime Minister Imran Khan has issued special directives for the arrangements of Baisakhi Festival.
It is worth mentioning that recently a US-based Sikh advocacy group denounced India’s violation of Pakistan’s airspace and assured Islamabad of full support against any aggression by New Delhi. “If India ever attacked, the overseas Sikhs will extend full support to Pakistan and will stand shoulder to shoulder in thwarting any misadventure,” said Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) in a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan.
India and Pakistan came to the brink of war last week as tensions escalated following a suicide car bombing that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police in Indian-held Kashmir. India accused Pakistan of harbouring the Jaish-e Mohammad group behind the attack, which Islamabad vehemently denied.
Last week, Indian warplanes carried out airstrikes inside Pakistan on what New Delhi called militant camps. Islamabad denied any such camps existed, as did local villagers in the area, but Pakistan the next day retaliated with its own aerial mission, that led to Pakistan Air Force shooting down two Indian jets and capturing an Indian Air Force pilot, who was later released by Islamabad as a ‘gesture of peace’.
