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India delays opening a crossing

Pakistani porters carry sacks of food from the Indian side of the second border crossing between Pakistan and India, at Chakothi, 61km from Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, on Wednesday. Pakistan and India opened a second crossing at their disputed Kashmir frontier to exchange aid for victims of the huge Oct. 8 quake, but allowed no Kashmiri residents to cross over. PHOTO: AP

India postponed opening a third crossing between Pakistani and Indian Kashmir aimed at helping survivors of last month's earthquake, while the UN said sickness was spreading in tent refugee camps.

India said the crossing into Pakistan's hard-hit Neelum Valley, which it earlier said would open yesterday, had been put off until tomorrow because the Pakistani army had not finished work on a border bridge.

But a Pakistani spokesman said his side was ready and frustration was growing with Indian "rigidity" over the border crossings.

The old rivals last month agreed to open five points along their de facto Kashmir border, known as the Line of Control (LOC), on Nov. 7 under a plan to let quake survivors from divided families meet and to facilitate the flow of aid.

But India, citing logistical problems, opened only one point on Monday and another on Wednesday.

The Oct. 8 quake killed over 73,000 people in Pakistan, most of them in Pakistani Kashmir, and over 1,300 in Indian Kashmir.

Hundreds of thousands of people are still homeless after the quake and, with many mountain roads still blocked by landslides, aid has yet to reach many in remote areas on the Pakistani side.

Although two border crossings have opened, there have been only symbolic exchanges of relief goods and no civilians have yet been able to cross as paperwork that Pakistan says India is demanding for people to travel has yet to be completed.

Meanwhile, US President George W. Bush urged Americans on Wednesday to help earthquake victims in Pakistan, just as people from around the world assisted the US when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast.

He said the US has made US$156 million available for relief and reconstruction needs, and that the US military is clearing roads, flying aid missions to isolated areas, transporting the injured and providing other assistance.
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