By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India exchanged lists of prisoners on Saturday as part of a bilateral agreement, the foreign office said, with 417 Pakistanis in Indian jails and 308 Indians in Pakistani custody.
The nuclear-armed neighbors, who have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, routinely exchange the lists twice a year under a 2008 pact on consular access.
The agreement requires both sides to inform each other about the arrests, detentions, and sentences of their nationals and to provide consular access within three months. It also stipulates that prisoners should be released or repatriated within a month of confirming their nationality and completing their terms.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said it had handed over a list of 308 Indian prisoners, including 42 civilians and 266 fishermen, to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
It said it had received a list of 417 Pakistani prisoners, including 343 civilians and 74 fishermen, from the Indian government through its High Commission in New Delhi.
“Consistent with the provisions of the 2008 Agreement on Consular Access, the Government of Pakistan today handed over a list of 308 Indian prisoners in Pakistan (42 civilian prisoners and 266 fishermen) to the High Commission of India in Islamabad,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The Government of India handed over the list of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails to Pakistan High Commission, New Delhi, according to which, there are a total of 417 Pakistanis in Indian jails (343 civilian prisoners and 74 fishermen).”
Pakistan urged India to release and repatriate all Pakistani prisoners and fishermen who had served their sentences and whose nationality had been verified.
The prisoner exchange comes amid strained relations between the two countries over the disputed region of Kashmir, which both claim in full but rule in part.
India has for years accused Pakistan of helping Islamist militants who have battled Indian security forces in its part of Kashmir since the late 1980s.
Pakistan denies the accusation and says it only provides diplomatic and moral support for Kashmiris seeking self-determination.
The special status given to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir was revoked in 2019 when New Delhi split it into two federally controlled territories. Pakistan calls the moves illegal and wants them rolled back.
India’s 2019 decision led the two countries to downgrade their diplomatic ties in tit-for-tat moves.
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