Islamabad, June 8: A doctor couple from Jammu and Kashmir have joined work at a hospital in Mirpur town of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

This is the first time after Partition that professionals from Jammu and Kashmir have taken up assignments on the other side of the Line of Control.

Irfan and Saima have been appointed medical officers at the Mirpur district headquarters hospital.

The couple apparently responded to a call from PoK prime minister Sardar Attique Khan, welcoming doctors and engineers from Jammu and Kashmir to work across the LoC. The area was ravaged by an earthquake in October 2005.

“The ongoing peace process has reduced tension in the region and paved the way for building mutual confidence,” Khan told reporters in Mirpur.

“We appreciate the authorities in New Delhi and Srinagar for their contribution to efforts aimed at building trust and restoring peace.”

(The Jammu and Kashmir government, however, denied knowledge of the doctors getting jobs in PoK, reports our special correspondent in Srinagar.

“We have no idea who these doctors are. We also don’t know how and when they reached Muzaffarabad,” health secretary K.B. Jindial said.)

In Mirpur, Khan pointed out that both he and his counterpart in Srinagar, Ghulam Nabi Azad, had taken initiatives to invite students from across the border.

He also reiterated his offer to supply gas and electricity to Srinagar. “We are also ready to provide jobs to skilled youths from Jammu and Kashmir.”