By: Swati Rana
PAKISTAN and India on Thursday (1) exchanged a list of prisoners lodged in each other’s custody.
It is in accordance with an existing agreement on consular access between Pakistan and India, signed on May 21, 2008, the Pakistan foreign office said.
Under the deal, both countries are required to exchange lists of prisoners in each other’s custody twice a year, on January 1 and July 1, respectively
Pakistan shared a list of 609 Indian prisoners, including 558 fishermen, while Indian sent a list of 345 Pakistani prisoners in India, including 271 civilians and 74 fishermen to the high commission for Pakistan in New Delhi.
“Today, the government of Pakistan shared with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad a list of 609 Indian prisoners in Pakistan, including 51 civilians and 558 fishermen,” said the foreign office.
The practice has been going on despite recurring tensions between the two countries.