General’s travel plans: Bus to Srinagar, flight thereafter
Among the proposals being studied by both India and Pakistan is a suggestion from Islamabad that President Pervez Musharraf take the bus from Muzaffarabad to Srinagar and then fly to Jamshedpur for the India-Pakistan one day international on April 9.
“However, we will have to discuss this with the Indian authorities and nothing is final so far,” sources said.
But the option that Musharraf might ride on the bus linking the two halves of Kashmir, that is scheduled to begin its run on April 7, was among the proposals being considered. This would get the Pakistan president to Jamshedpur in time for the ODI on April 9.
A senior official at the foreign office said the bus journey was “a difficult” choice as many “complications” were involved. “But surely we are going to forward this to the Indian government.”
“It may be delayed for a day or two if the president opts for this route to watch the cricket match.” Officials said the president had accepted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s invitation to visit India to watch one of the Pakistan-India cricket matches.
Musharraf had said in an interview last week that he would love to watch some of the India-Pakistan cricket series, but only if invited. Government sources said several options were being considered for Musharraf’s visit to India to watch a cricket match, though the President had indicated his preference for an ODI instead of a Test.
Related Travel Information
Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has not applied to travel on the next Muzaffarabad-Srinagar cross-Line of Control bus, official sources said here on Thursday.
Mr. Ahmed, who has been in the eye of the storm following remarks by the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader, Yaseen Malik, that the Information Minister ran militant training camps, had expressed a desire to travel by the bus to meet relatives in Kashmir.
The sources said that the name of the Pakistan Information Minister, who was in New Delhi during General Pervez Musharraf's visit in April, did not figure in the list of
Domestic tourists flow into Kashmir Valley has shown a record growth of 83 per cent during the first six months of this year.
More than 2.80 lakh domestic tourists visited Srinagar from January to June this year as against a total of 3.58 lakh tourists visiting the place in 2004, an official release said today.
Foreign tourists arrival also registered a two per cent increase as more than 8,000 foreign tourists visited the valley during the period.
The increase in the tourists’ arrivals comes in the backdrop a number of initiatives taken by the Centre for the revival of tourism
The Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation today said it will soon launch air safari and helicopter service between various tourist destinations in the state.
The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Tourism Development Corporation chaired by State Minister for Tourism Hassan Mir here, an official spokesman said.
Although it was not clear whether the air safari and helicopter services would be available for the Amarnath pilgrims, last year the government had introduced helicopter service for the pilgrims from Srinagar and Baltal to the holy cave, located at a height of 3,880 metres in South Kashmir.
More: outlookindia.com
The Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation today said it will soon launch air safari and helicopter service between various tourist destinations in the state.
The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Tourism Development Corporation chaired by State Minister for Tourism Hassan Mir here, an official spokesman said.
Although it was not clear whether the air safari and helicopter services would be available for the Amarnath pilgrims, last year the government had introduced helicopter service for the pilgrims from Srinagar and Baltal to the holy cave, located at a height of 3,880 metres in South Kashmir.
The decision
Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid today applied for the special permit to travel by the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus for a visit to Jammu and Kashmir where he planned to meet Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
"I have applied today, sought a seat in the June 15 bus. I want to go as a common citizen and common Kashmiri," Rashid told Geo TV here.
He said it would be a private visit being undertaken at the invitation of JKLF leader Yasin Malik, who is currently touring Pakistan along with moderate Hurriyat leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
If
