Islamabad (AsiaNews) – Pakistan and India yesterday decided to open bus services between their respective sides of the Kashmir ceasefire line.

Beginning April 7 people will be able to travel from Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir to Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir. At present, the two sides are cut off from one another.

The agreement was announced today by Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri in a joint statement with his Indian counterpart Natwar Singh in a news conference in Islamabad.

This is the first visit by an Indian Foreign Minister to Pakistan in 15 years.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri said travel would be granted by an "entry permit system" rather than a passport once travellers' identities are checked.

"I am convinced that the cooperation between our two countries is not just a desirable objective, it is, in today's context, an imperative," Mr. Singh said.

"We had discussions on the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir and have impressed upon the Indian government for an early and final settlement of the issue in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Kashmir," Mr Kasuri told the news conference.    

Bus services between the two cities will be the only direct link between the two Kashmirs. Currently, there are no air or rail link between the two sides.

Bus services will allow thousands of families divided by the ceasefire line known as the Line of Control to reunite.

Yesterday's decision now must wait for the response of Muslim religious leaders in Pakistan who back Muslim rebels in Indian Kashmir.

In the midst of the ongoing confidence-building process, India and Pakistan are also discussing other measures, including a proposed gas pipeline between Iran and India via Pakistan and starting other rail and road links.

Kashmir has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan for over 50 years and the cause of two wars (1948 and 1965).

The decision by both sides to launch bus services is an historic moment in the long process of building peace between the two countries.