Pakistan, India to exchange list of prisoners, nuclear installations

• Pakistan and India will exchange prisoner lists
• They will also provide details of nuclear facilities
• The lists are handed over twice every year

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India will exchange the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in each other’s custody and location of nuclear installations tomorrow, diplomatic sources revealed.

The lists will be exchanged under the provisions of the Agreement on Consular Access signed between the two countries in 2008.

The agreement requires both India and Pakistan to exchange lists of prisoners in each other’s custody twice a year, on January 1 and July 1.

According to diplomatic sources, the Foreign Office will provide New Delhi with a list of Indian prisoners held in Pakistan. It will also provide lists of its nuclear installations and facilities.

Pakistan will hand over lists of nuclear assets and installations and Indian prisoners to Indian Charge d’Affairs in Islamabad, sources added.

India will also provide Pakistan with the lists of Pakistanis imprisoned in the neighbouring country and the details nuclear assets and facilities.

More than 200 Indian prisoners including fisherman are imprisoned in various jails in Pakistan. In India, more than 200 Pakistani prisoners are languishing in different jails.

The exchange of lists of nuclear assets and facilities is part of the December 1988 Treaty on Non-Aggression on Nuclear Facilities and Assets.

In July this year, both countries exchanged the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in each other’s custody.

India handed over a list of 309 Pakistani civilian prisoners and 95 fishermen in Indian custody to Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistan shared a list of 49 civilian prisoners and 633 fishermen in its custody, who are reportedly Indian citizens.

Pakistan has demanded the Indian government to release Pakistani nationals who have completed their sentences as soon as possible.

India has also urged Pakistan to expedite necessary action to confirm the nationality status of 57 Pakistani prisoners, whose repatriation is pending.

Earlier in June, 20 Indian fishermen were released from Malir District Jail, Karachi. They were sent to Lahore by bus and were handed over to Indian authorities through Wagah border. They had been arrested for violating maritime boundaries and were released after completion of their sentences.

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