Pak for Indian help to rebuild Railways

Pak is eyeing help from India in rebuilding its nearly-defunct railway system.

Eyeing help from India in rebuilding its nearly-defunct railway system,Pakistan Railway officials will hold the first technical meeting with their Indian counterparts here on Thursday.

Pakistan Railway Advisory and Consultative Service (PRACS),the subsidiary of Pakistan Railway entrusted with procuring foreign technology,has initiated the meeting with RITES,the PSU which is the export arm of Indian Railways,to spell out their specific needs in formal terms. RITES officials said they would approach the meeting with an open mind.

Pakistan requires 50 broad-gauge diesel locomotives to begin with and can go for a mix of buying new locos and taking a few old ones on lease. The number will depend on the negotiations and the price we arrive at. Also,we have to see how many the Indian Railways is in a position to spare for lease, said a senior Pakistan Railway official.

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There are a number of technical issues the meeting seeks to enlist and eventually weed out before formalising an agreement,if the talks work out. But what is certain is that this time around India is far more positive in considering Pakistans proposal than it had been in the past primarily because the Ministry of External Affairs recently initiated a top-level dialogue with Indian Railways and reportedly assured all cooperation in facilitating cross-border movement of goods and technical officials.

This year India has signed a deal with Bangladesh to supply 10 diesel locomotives.

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