USA TODAY - India, Pakistan agree to open Kashmir border
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — India and Pakistan agreed early Sunday to open the heavily militarized frontier in the disputed Kashmir region to speed help for victims of the devastating South Asia earthquake, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said. Opening the border in predominantly Muslim Kashmir is particularly sensitive for India's government, which has been fighting a 16-year insurgency by Islamic militants who want Indian Kashmir to be independent or united with Pakistan.
....But the devastation from South Asia's worst-ever earthquake has helped override long-standing suspicions between the two countries.
The unprecedented agreement came in response to the Oct. 8 quake that killed more than 78,000 people in northern Pakistan and more than 1,300 in Indian Kashmir. Some 3.3 million people were left homeless and fears for their lives are growing as winter closes in.
An estimated 800,000 people, many living in remote mountain valleys, still lack basic shelter. Relief officials say 600,000 more tents are needed.
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