India cancels Samjhauta Express operations on its end in wake of soaring tensions

New Delhi, Feb 28: The Indian Railways has on Friday also suspended Samjahuta Express train service from India too, hours after Pakistan did. From the India side, the Samjhauta Express runs on Wednesdays and Sundays. The train departs from the Old Delhi Railway Station at 11:10 pm.

CPRO Northern railways said,''Samjhauta Express has been cancelled from India with effect from 3rd March, 2019 till further notification.''

The Samjhauta Express, named after the Hindi word for "agreement", comprises six sleeper coaches and an AC 3-tier coach. The train service was started on July 22, 1976 under the Shimla Agreement that settled the 1971 war between the two nations.

Meanwhile, Authorities in Islamabad have indefinitely suspended the Samjhauta Express, a decades-old train service between India and Pakistan. A statement by Pakistan's foreign office said that the train service with India has been suspended "till further notice". The move by Islamabad comes amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.

The Samjahuta Express departs from Lahore on Mondays and Thursdays. The bi-weekly train was scheduled to leave Lahore with 16 passengers when the suspension took effect. The train had already embarked on its journey from Karachi but the passengers are stuck at Lahore railway station, the report said.

Bilateral ties between the two countries have taken a severe beating after Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed or JeM carried out its latest terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, in which more than 40 paramilitary soldiers were killed.