India / Pakistan services to resume

Pakistan and India have reportedly agreed to resume air services between the two countries, as well as allowing overflights, after a suspension of more than two years. Indian aviation officials say they reached agreement in long talks held in New Delhi on Monday, according to the Financial Times, a month ahead of the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s proposed visit to Pakistan for a peace summit. The agreement reportedly came after the Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf offered to end the ban on Indian flights over Pakistani territory. The newspaper reports that both countries are keen to reinstate train links as well, with additional plans to set up bus services between the Indian and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir and a ferry service between Karachi and Bombay. Flights between the countries are planned to restart on 1 January; Pakistan International Airlines will resume flights three times a week from Lahore to New Delhi, while Indian Airlines will restart its service between Bombay and Karachi.