Sharif will welcome Vajpayee bus at Wagah border

As a result of the Vajpayee-Sharif meeting, the Indo-Pak foreign secretary-level talks fixed for February 17 to 20 here were being rescheduled, the spokesman said.

The talks are part of the composite dialogue process to discuss peace and security and Jammu and Kashmir.

The spokesman said Vajpayee will be visiting Lahore on the inaugural run of the bus service on February 20. 8220;The full programme of the Prime Minister8217;s visit is being finalised,8221; he said.

8220;We have agreed to the Pakistan foreign ministry8217;s suggestion that in view of the Prime Minister8217;s visit, the meetings of the foreign secretaries proposed to be held in new Delhi from February 17 to 20 on the subjects assigned to them in the composite dialogue process be rescheduled,8221; he said.

Vajpayee will be the second Indian Prime Minister to visit Pakistan after Rajiv Gandhi8217;s tour to that country in 1989. The last Pakistan Prime Minister to pay a bilateral visit to India was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1972 when he and Indira Gandhi signed the historic Simla agreement.

Govt clears Indo-Pak agreement on bus service

The Government today cleared the agreement between India and Pakistan for the introduction of a bus service between Delhi and Lahore on February 20. The Cabinet committee on security, chaired by Home Minister L K Advani, approved the agreement and spelt out its salient features. An official release issued by the government after the committee meeting said this service will facilitate the movement of passengers from both the sides.

In addition, it added, the service will 8220;strengthen the interactions relations between the people of the two countries and work as a confidence-building measure towards normalisation of relations between new Delhi and Islamabad.8221;

Buses of the Delhi Transport Corporation and Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation will leave Delhi and Lahore respectively on Tuesdays and Fridays and return on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Security arrangements have been taken care of, the release said.