Singh

New Delhi, April 6: India and Pakistan today affirmed that the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Muzaffarabad-Srinagar buses will ply tomorrow despite the militant attack in the Kashmir capital this afternoon but top leaders here were holding a series of meetings till late in the evening on the security situation.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will go to Srinagar tomorrow, official sources said, for the inaugural of the bus service despite the threat from militants.

The Centre has not blamed any particular group or power for masterminding today?s attack.

?These (attacks by militants) are desperate acts of desperate people. There is no change with regard to the flagging off of the bus service. The peace process and the journey of peace will go on,? spokesperson for the Prime Minister?s Office, Sanjaya Baru, said.

But shortly afterwards, the Prime Minister summoned another meeting that was being attended by the foreign, defence and home ministers.

Foreign minister K. Natwar Singh and home minister Shivraj Patil are likely to accompany the Prime Minister to Srinagar tomorrow.

Congress spokesperson Ambika Soni said Sonia will also be at the inaugural of the bus service. ?Nobody is going to be cowed down by these acts of terror. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi herself has informed me on arrival from Dandi that she would definitely be going to the Valley tomorrow for the flagging off of the bus.?

Former defence minister and NDA convener George Fernandes said the government has to take the call on the bus service. After meeting the home minister, Fernandes said he would not proffer any advice.

Patil described the morale of the passengers of the inaugural bus as ?high?. He said all passengers who were to take the bus to Muzaffarabad were safe. ?In all, 24 passengers were to go and all 24 are absolutely safe.?

He presided over a meeting attended by, among others, home secretary V.K. Duggal, IB director E.S.L. Narasimhan and special secretary (internal security), Anil Chowdhury.

South Block sources said hardliners in Pakistan and the militant outfits, which were feeling increasingly sidelined, have tried to do something dramatic to send out a clear signal about their presence.