Samjhauta Express carrying 76 Indian, 41 Pakist nationals reaches Delhi

Samjhauta Express, the bilateral train service between India and Pakistan, on Friday reached Delhi with 76 Indian and 41 Pakist nationals on board.

The train, which had departed from the Attari Railway Station after a delay of around five hours, reached Old Delhi railway station at around 1:30 am today.

Javed Ali, a passenger who deboarded in Delhi, said, "Pakistan didn't send their engine to Attari. An Indian engine brought us here. Keeping the current situation in mind, I came back in a week, however, I have visa for a month."

Meanwhile, a Pakist national, who visited India to meet her relatives said, "We were tensed when got to know that Islamabad has suspended the train services on its side. But then an Indian engine came and brought us here (Delhi). I am here to meet my relatives."

Following heightened tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370, which accorded a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Islamabad had suspended the train services on its side on Thursday.

However, Indian Railways clarified that the train service has not yet been suspended but Pakistan authorities refused to send their crew to India citing security concern.

The Samjhauta Express stood in the Wagah side of the border in Pakistan with around 110 passengers yesterday. An Indian engine brought the train from Wagah to Attari.

The Samjhauta Express, commonly called the Friendship Express, is a bi-weekly train --Thursday and Monday-- that runs between Delhi and Attari in India and Lahore in Pakistan. Services began in 1976 under the Simla Agreement signed between the two countries.

The word Samjhauta means "agreement" and "compromise" in both Hindi and Urdu.

Last time, the operations of Samjhauta Express were suspended on February 28, following the Pulwama terror attack that was carried out by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) that killed 40 CRPF jawans on February 14. However, services resumed shortly later.

( With inputs from ANI )