By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India exchanged lists of prisoners held in each other’s custody on Wednesday, a biannual ritual required under a 2008 bilateral pact, with Islamabad renewing calls for New Delhi to free and repatriate dozens of Pakistanis who have already completed their sentences.
The Foreign Office said Pakistan handed a list of 250 Indian prisoners, including 52 civilians and 198 fishermen, to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. India, in turn, provided a list of 439 prisoners identified as Pakistani or believed to be Pakistani, comprising 386 civilians and 53 fishermen held in Indian jails.
The exchange is mandated under the 2008 Agreement on Consular Access, which requires the two nuclear-armed neighbours to share prisoner details twice a year, on January 1 and July 1. The countries also exchange lists of their nuclear installations and facilities each January 1, under a separate accord that bars either side from attacking the other’s nuclear sites.
Islamabad used Wednesday’s exchange to press New Delhi to release 97 Pakistani prisoners — 64 civilians and 33 fishermen — whose sentences have been completed and whose nationality has been confirmed. The Foreign Office also called on India to guarantee the safety and welfare of Pakistani and suspected-Pakistani prisoners still awaiting release, and urged expedited consular access to those whose nationality has yet to be verified.
“The government of Pakistan will continue its efforts to ensure the early return of all Pakistani prisoners,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
The status of prisoners held across the border remains one of the more persistent humanitarian flashpoints between the two countries, whose relations have been strained for years. A joint judicial committee formed in 2007 to review such cases has not met since 2013, after India suspended broader bilateral dialogue amid rising tensions.
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