2006年VOA标准英语-India, Pakistan Begin Second Kashmir Bus Servic

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
20 June 2006

India and Pakistan have launched a second bus service to link the two sides of the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir. The new transport links between the South Asian rivals are the most visible symbol of a two-year-old peace process.

---------------------------------

Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, third right, waves off the bus traveling to the Pakistan side of Kashmir, at Chakka Da Bagh, in Poonch district, 250 kilometers (156 miles) northwest of Jammu, India   
  
Scores of people in Indian Kashmir cheered and waved flags as the new bus service that will link Poonch in Indian Kashmir to Rawalkot in Pakistan rolled out Tuesday amid heavy security.

In Pakistan, another bus headed toward Indian Kashmir. The buses will stop at the militarized line of control that divides the region. There, passengers will cross the border on foot before being taken in other buses to their destinations.

The 55-kilometer bus route between Poonch and Rawalkot was reopened after a half century of political conflict shut down all links between the Indian and Pakistani sides of Kashmir. The region was divided between the neighbors after they fought a war in 1947.

The first cross-border bus link was opened 14 months ago between Srinagar in Indian Kashmir and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan. It was hailed as a major symbol of peace between the rivals.  

In Indian Kashmir, the ruling Congress Party leader, Sonia Gandhi, called the bus an opportunity for the families in the region to reunite.

Gandhi hopes that the new transport links will ultimately result in more trade between the two countries. 

Sardar Sikandar Hayat, prime minister of Pakistani Kashmir, called the new service a good omen¹ for the divided families of Kashmir.

The bus services in Kashmir have been called the most significant step taken to restore normalcy to the troubled region since India and Pakistan began peace negotiations² two years ago. The slow-moving peace process has seen the rivals bury their open hostility³, but has failed to produce a political solution to their conflicting claims to Kashmir. 

Abdul Ghani Bhat, a senior leader of the All Parties Huriyat Conference, a grouping of separatist organizations in Indian Kashmir, calls the new transport services a "confidence-building measure" that will help the two countries come closer to a permanent settlement on Kashmir.  

"The bus services I think will help in the ultimate analysis in achieving a breakthrough," Bhat says. "It is a first step, we should not expect miracles to happen. Let us hope many more steps follow with a view to achieving a breakthrough in terms of a permanent settlement."

Kashmir has triggered two of the three wars fought between India and Pakistan. But a truce⁴ along the Himalayan border has lowered tensions in the last two years and raised hopes that the South Asian rivals will negotiate a solution to the Kashmir dispute.

1 omen   

n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示

参考例句：

• The superstitious regard it as a bad omen.迷信的人认为那是一种恶兆。
• Could this at last be a good omen for peace?这是否终于可以视作和平的吉兆了？

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

4 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。