Last Train To Pakistan Reaches Indian Border Station

New Delhi: The Karachi-bound Thar Express with 165 passengers on-board reached Munabao station on the Indian side of the border with Pakistan on Saturday morning, officials said.

Pakistan on Friday said that it has suspended all train services to India, news agency PTI reported. Pakistan’s Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed announced in Islamabad that this would be the last Jodhpur-Karachi train.

On Saturday, officials said the passengers were currently undergoing customs clearance following which it will move towards Zero Point station which is on the International Border.

Among the 165 passengers, 81 are Indians, who are visiting their relatives in Pakistan. Eighty-four Pakistan nationals are returning to their country after completion of their visa limit in India, a railway official said.

The Thar Express has been running between Jodhpur and Karachi every Friday night since services resumed on February 18, 2006 after a 41-year suspension.

According to estimates, over four lakh passengers have taken the train in the past 13 years.

Russia Backs India on Kashmir

Russia has backed India’s move on Jammu and Kashmir, saying that the changes in the status are within the framework of the Indian Constitution.

“We proceed from fact that the changes associated with the change in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and its division into two union territories are carried out within the framework of the Constitution of the Republic of India,” news agency PTI quoted a Russian Foreign Ministry statement on Friday.

“Moscow expects that India and Pakistan will not allow aggravation of the situation in the region,” the statement added.