Article 370 scrapped: DTC cancels Delhi-Lahore bus after Pakistan suspended 'friendship' bus service

New Delhi: The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) on Monday cancelled the Delhi-Lahore bus service as Pakistan has decided to discontinue it in the wake of India revoking Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, said a senior official of the public transporter. On Saturday, a senior Pakistani minister had announced to suspended the friendship bus service from Monday. [caption id=“attachment_7152781” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of a Delhi-Lahore bus. Reuters.[/caption] A DTC bus was scheduled to leave for Lahore on Monday 6 am. However, it did not leave due to Pakistan’s decision to suspend the bus service, the official said. “Consequent to Pakistan’s decision to suspend the Delhi-Lahore bus service, DTC is not able to send bus (from Delhi to Lahore) from 12 August,” said a statement from DTC. Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) had on Saturday also telephonically informed the DTC about suspension of the service from Monday. The last bus for Lahore left Delhi on Saturday morning carrying two passengers while the return bus from the other side reached the national capital carrying 19 passengers in the evening of the same day. The bus service did not operate on Sunday. The Delhi-Lahore bus service was first started in February 1999 but suspended after the 2001 Parliament attack. It was restarted in July 2003. It had, however, continued with a depleted number of passengers even when bilateral relations between the two countries had worsened following the Pulwama terror attack and Balakot surgical strikes in February this year. The Lahore-Delhi bus service is operated from Ambedkar Stadium terminal near Delhi Gate. DTC buses ply every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and PTDC buses every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, from Delhi to Lahore. For the return trip, DTC buses leave Lahore every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday whereas the PTDC buses are available every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.