March 04, 2019•Update: March 04, 2019
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
A train service operating between India and Pakistan was restored on Monday, official media said.
The Samjhota Express was suspended last week in view of prevailing tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
According to state-run Radio Pakistan, the train carrying some 150 passengers left Pakistan's northeastern city of Lahore on Monday morning.
Samjhota Express, started in 1976, is a bi-weekly train service that runs between Indian city of Amritsar and Lahore.
Last week, Indian jets entered Pakistan claiming to have killed several terrorists inside a training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM), a militant group that claimed responsibility of a suicide bombing that killed more than 40 Indian troops in mid-February.
Pakistan, which has banned JEM since 2002 but is accused by India of providing the group a sanctuary, denied the claim saying the Indian jets had dropped bombs at empty forestland.
Relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbors further soured when warplanes from both sides engaged in a dogfight along the border of disputed Kashmir. India and Pakistan claimed to have downed each other's planes and an Indian pilot was captured.
In a move to quell tensions, Pakistan handed over the captured pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman, to Indian authorities last Friday.
The U.S., EU, Turkey and many other states have urged both countries to resolve their differences through talks.
The two South Asian nations have fought three wars in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir -- since they were partitioned in 1947.
Written by Islamuddin Sajid
