Indian PM to flag off bus across Kashmir

NEW DELHI, Sunday (Reuters)

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will flag off the first bus to travel next month from Indian Kashmir to the Pakistani sector of the Himalayan region to boost peace efforts, his spokesman said on Sunday.

The nuclear rivals breathed new life into the sluggish peace process last month when they agreed to open bus links between the capitals of the Kashmir sectors under their respective control.

The bus services will start on April 7, to the delight of Kashmiris on both sides of the heavily militarised Line of Control that divides the region.

"Prime Minister Singh will flag off the first bus from Srinagar. This was his personal initiative and the fact he is flagging it off shows how seriously he is taking the peace process," Sanjaya Baru, spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office, told Reuters.

"By going to Srinagar, he is clearly associating himself with the bus initiative," Baru added.