New Delhi/Islamabad, Jan 7 (IANS): The Delhi-Lahore bus service now plies only till the border in Punjab, and passengers then board Pakistani buses to reach Lahore and Indian buses to reach New Delhi.

Delhi Transport Corp (DTC) buses have been plying since Jan 2 only up to a restaurant in Pakistan close to the Wagah-Attari border and dropping off the passengers, a DTC spokesman told IANS.

"The passengers find their way to Lahore," he said, adding that DTC buses picked up from the spot those headed to New Delhi.

The Pakistani buses too ply only between Lahore and the restaurant at the border checkpost, where they pick up and drop off the passengers.

Until Jan 2, both Indian and Pakistani buses motored all the way to Lahore and New Delhi.

The spokesman did not specify the reasons for the curtailed service. But a Pakistani media report said this was due to threats from terrorists.

Dawn online reported that passengers bound for New Delhi and returning to Lahore were being dropped off at the Wagah border.

The Wagah-Attari border lies between Amritsar in Indian Punjab and Lahore in Pakistan's Punjab province.

The Pakistan Tourism Development Corp. (PTDC) has shifted its bus operation to an office at the border, Dawn said.

The Delhi-Lahore bus service was launched in March 1999 in a bid to promote relations between the two countries.

Barring Sundays, a DTC bus used to leave New Delhi for Lahore every second day of a week. A Pakistani bus operated between the two cities the other three days of the week.

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