Rahul Bedi
in New Delhi
Pakistan's first commercial flight to India in two years landed in New Delhi yesterday, bringing the nuclear neighbours, who came close to war last year, a little closer to resuming normal relations.
The Pakistan International Airlines flight carried 42 passengers and seven crew members from the border city of Lahore to Delhi's Indira Gandhi Airport, where check-in counters for the return flight were decorated with flowers.
A flight, from the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi to Bombay in western India, is scheduled to arrive today.
Officials said Indian Airlines would resume its earlier services to Lahore and Karachi after January 9th.
The company will, however, operate two chartered flights from Delhi to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, to ferry reporters to the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation conference, which starts on Sunday.
"The resumption of flights between the two countries is a matter of satisfaction for both peoples," said Capt Tasleem Muzaffar, piloting the Pakistani flight.
Bilateral air links, along with rail and bus services, were severed and the respective high commissioners withdrawn exactly two years ago. India blamed Pakistan-backed militants for the attack on its parliament in December 2001 that brought the two countries to the brink of war.
Since April, the two countries have also restored bus services, resumed full diplomatic ties and observed a ceasefire between forces lined up on either side of the Himalayan region of Kashmir.
The area is split between the two countries, but both claim it in its entirety. More than 65,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the conflict since 1989.
PIA chairman Mr Ahmed Saeed said new routes would begin shortly. "The resumption of this service will definitely benefit both countries," he said, adding that service to Madras and Hyderabad were on the table for future talks. - (Additional reporting: AP)