Kashmiris hope bus will foster peace

Analysts praised India and Pakistan for what they said was the determination of the nuclear-armed rivals to go ahead with the bus launch on Thursday, the first to connect the two Kashmirs in nearly 60 years, despite threats from militants.

But they said New Delhi and Islamabad -- who have fought two wars over Kashmir -- still had a long way to go to untie the Kashmir knot, as they had yet to show much inclination to move from entrenched diplomatic positions despite the hype and celebrations over the transport link.

"I was crying with joy when I saw television pictures of the bus crossing over to this side," Pakiza Carrim, 25, a sociology student at a university in Srinagar, the main city of Indian Kashmir, said. "Kashmiris have won half of the battle."

"Now, it is the sincerity of the two countries that will make a difference to the future of Kashmir. I wish this bus runs daily," she said, a day after the first fortnightly service rolled into Srinagar from across a military cease-fire line.

Nineteen Indian Kashmiris, mostly elderly, on Thursday defied separatist threats and crossed a "Peace Bridge" across a military line that divided them for more than half a century, hours after 31 Pakistanis walked into the Indian side for an emotional reunion with relatives.

Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani Kashmir, erupted into spontaneous celebrations as the first passengers broke down with joy over seeing their dear ones, many of them for the first time.

"It is a great step toward peace," said Adbul Hamid Bhat, a businessman in Srinagar. "Kashmir is a more than 50-year problem and things will not change overnight. Some elements will oppose it for their vested interests but let's go ahead."

Newspapers in India and Pakistan were also upbeat.

"The determination shown by India and Pakistan to go ahead with the bus service in the face of terrorism is praiseworthy," Pakistani daily The News said in an editorial on Friday.

"It will send an unambiguous message to the shadowy groups that there will be no bowing to terrorism."

A day before the service was launched, militants fighting against Indian rule in the Himalayan region staged a suicide attack on a heavily guarded government complex sheltering the Indian passengers, torching the building.

None of the passengers were injured but five pulled out subsequently.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the bus had opened a door and it was the beginning of a new phase for Kashmir.