Munabao won't be just another railway station

It is more than an oasis in the middle of a desert. The sprawling railway station in Barmer is being spruced up and a spanking new one in Munabao on the India-Pakistan border is likely to be inaugurated some time next month, becoming another link in Indo-Pakistan relations.

But Munabao will be more than a railway station. It will have a gift shop, a duty-free shop, possibly even a shopping mall if plans of some ambitious entrepreneurs in Rajasthan are realised. A team from Pakistan will arrive here tomorrow to discuss the restarting of a new transborder railway service that became a casualty of war in the next few weeks.

The railway line from Munabao will be connected to Khokrapar in Pakistan and will be an important link for divided families in Rajasthan and Pakistan's Sind province. The rail link was destroyed in the 1965 war and when the two countries pledged to restart it, it was thought that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would travel on the train to Pakistan to inaugurate it.

In the current climate of coolness with India telling Pakistan to take care about how it handles the Baloch insurgency and Pakistan describing India as a "bully", this trip may not happen. But there are indications that both countries will go ahead with the train link

The talks on starting the train service will be followed by foreign secretary-level talks that start on January 17 to launch the third round of composite dialogue process.

Most of the 12-kilometre track to Khokhrapar has already been laid. Hectic preparations are already under way to renovate the railway station at Munabao, the last station on India's western border. About 20 Customs counters, 28 immigration counters and one for money-changing are being set up at the modern railway station.

The Indian government has spent over $4 million on renovating the station. Passengers arriving from Pakistan will have to undergo checks and proceed to Jodhpur.