Pakistan and India agree to open Kashmir border

PAKISTAN and India made an unprecedented agreement yesterday to open their heavily militarised border in disputed Kashmir to aid the flow of relief goods and reunite divided families in the aftermath of South Asia’s colossal earthquake.

The head of the UN Children’s Fund yesterday warned thousands more could die in the region from disease, diarrhoea and injuries if survivors do not receive more medical attention, tents and blankets as the harsh Himalayan winter bears down on them.

About 80,000 people were killed in the October 8 quake, most of them on the Pakistani side of divided Kashmir. More than 1,300 people died on the Indian side of Kashmir. An estimated 800,000 survivors still lack basic shelter with tents in short supply.

The two countries issued a joint statement after marathon talks to establish five crossing points along the Line of Control that has divided the Himalayan region for nearly six decades. The neighbours have fought two wars over Kashmir.

The move marks a significant step forward in the countries’ tenuous relationship, marred by decades of suspicion and rivalry. Opening the border in predominantly Muslim Kashmir is particularly sensitive for India’s government, which has been fighting a 16-year insurgency by Islamic militants who want Indian Kashmir to be independent or united with Pakistan.

The agreement came after a series of explosions in India’s capital on Saturday night that killed at least 61 people in carnage that Indian leaders blamed on unspecified terrorists.

Pakistan’s government condemned the bloodshed.

Analysts hailed the politically-significant border deal, praising the two countries for continuing to thrash out the accord despite the bombs in New Delhi.

“There was fear. It had been a practice in the past [in India] to blame Pakistan for anything like that. But this time nobody blamed Pakistan,” said Khalid Mahmood, a research analyst at Islamabad’s Institute of Regional Studies.

UN humanitarian coordinator in Muzaffarabad Rashid Khalikov also welcomed the Pakistan-India accord, calling it “a good step in this disastrous condition. It will open an opportunity to extend humanitarian help to the affected people in the far-flung villages alongside the Line of Control.”

The United Nations, along with other relief groups, have been scrambling to get relief supplies to the estimated 3.3 million left homeless in the quake.