It is a very bitter experience when you know that someone very close to you is ill and you can't visit him, somebody is dead and you can't go there to offer your condolences

Saeed Sohrawardi

For decades, they have hardly ever been able to meet. They try against the odds to keep in contact - through unreliable phone lines and postal services.

Saeed Sohrawardi lives in the Indian capital Delhi and his brother Rashid in the Pakistani city of Karachi. They have not been able to shake hands or embrace each other for 23 years.

In an interview with the BBC's World Today programme, they described the strain that the long separation has put on family ties.

Saeed, a newspaper columnist in Delhi, says he is praying for things to improve:

The military build-up deeply worries many divided families

"It is a very bitter experience when you know that someone very close to you is ill and you can't visit him, somebody is dead and you can't go there to offer your condolences" he said. "Some marriage is taking place and you receive the invitation after the event has taken place."

For his brother Rashid, who is a doctor, being caught up in the maelstrom of Indo-Pakistani politics and diplomacy has left him equally sad and bitter:

"So many of our beloved ones have died there [in India] - you could not see them, you could not meet them."

Saeed has been to Karachi only once in his life - but it was a mixed experience.

"As soon as you step on Pakistani soil, the first thing you have to go to is the police station and sometimes, you know, the attitude of the policemen is very unfriendly," he said.

"You hear many stories about people being harassed."

Nevertheless, both brothers are optimistic that things will improve eventually.

The conflict is tearing communities apart

While Rashid hopes for a trip across the divide to see the Indian part of his family, Saeed pins his hopes on a younger generation less entrenched in the past.

"When the younger generation comes up in both countries they will definitely try to change the atmosphere. Recently my daughters managed a trip to Pakistan . . . and they came back very happy at the response they got from the people.

"Sooner or later, they have to come together - they cannot fight each other and also fight terrorism."

Better relations

Rashid agrees. With India and Pakistan sharing a common history, a common culture and to a large extent a common language he does not believe that the barrier between India and Pakistan is impermeable.

"I think it is in the newspapers and the media but truly the people - we are not apart."

People in Pakistan, he says, want better relations with India - and they want the current dispute resolved.

His words are echoed by his brother Saeed in Delhi. He says improving relations with Pakistan is the only way forward for people in India.

"They may be in a minority right now but there are people who sincerely believe that such a situation has to be brought about in the larger interest of the sub-continent," he said. "If Europe can prosper as a community, why not the sub-continent?"