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Srinagar/New Delhi, March 15: If travel plans on one side have been firmed up, on the other, it is still uncertain.
The army chief today said the Border Roads Organisation will build a bridge that will be a link in the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service though it falls under the joint control of India and Pakistan.
?As agreed by the directors-general of military operations of India and Pakistan, the (new) Kaman bridge (or Kalian De Khan) will be constructed by the Indian BRO,? General J.J. Singh said today.
At India?s last picket in Kashmir?s Uri sector, the army chief explained why India is building the entire bridge that will be on the Line of Control. ?There should be no disparity in the construction material, which has to be of uniform strength and quality.?
There was no agreement, however, on when Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf would arrive in India to catch an India-Pakistan match in the ongoing cricket series.
Delhi had suggested that he could come for the one-dayer in Kochi on April 2 after he expressed interest to watch one of the matches. Officials in the Prime Minister?s Office today said the date was not suitable to Musharraf as he has lots of engagements.
The Calcutta Test, once touted to be the choice, starts tomorrow. Another likely date could be April 5 in Visakhapatnam for another one-dayer. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be busy that day with his Uzbek counterpart who is scheduled to come calling.
Pakistan?s information minister Rashid Ahmed has booked a ticket for the Kanpur one-dayer on April 15, fuelling speculation if Musharraf would make it that day.
?It is now wide open. He can come for any of the remaining matches, including the one-dayer in Delhi,? a senior Pakistani diplomat said.
But the Delhi match, earlier scheduled for April 12, may not be played at all. The venue could change to Jaipur.
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, who is on a visit to Pakistan, met Musharraf in Islamabad today and told him that India was awaiting his visit. The Pakistan President?s mother and son Bilal, however, have confirmed their arrival in Delhi tomorrow but not for cricket.
?They are coming here to meet family members and not for the cricket match (in Calcutta),? a Pakistan High Commission official said.
PTI, however, reported that they might proceed to Calcutta. But this could not be independently confirmed.
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