266 fishermen among 308 Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails
New Delhi, July 1: Pakistan has handed over a list of 308 Indian prisoners, lodged in its jails to the High Commission of India here as part of a bilateral agreement. Of these, 42 are civil and 266 are fishermen.
The move was made in accordance with the provisions of the two nations' 2008 Agreement on Consular Access, according to a statement from the Foreign Office (FO).
According to the FO, "the Government of Pakistan today handed over a list of 308 Indian prisoners in Pakistan (42 civilian prisoners and 266 fishermen) to India's High Commission in Islamabad." It went on to say that the Government of India had given the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi a list of Pakistani prisoners lodged in Indian jails.
According to the list, there are 417 Pakistanis in Indian jails, 343 of them are civilians and 74 of them are fishermen.
Islamabad has urged New Delhi to release and repatriate all Pakistani civilian prisoners and fishermen who have served their sentences and whose nationality has been established.
Pakistan and India often arrest fishermen for crossing the maritime boundary, which is poorly marked at some points.
India also asked Pakistan to safeguard the safety, security, and welfare of all Indians and those suspected to be Indian civilian prisoners and fishermen pending their release and repatriation, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.
"In this context, India has urged Pakistan to expedite necessary action at its end to confirm the nationality status of 62 believed to be Pakistani prisoners, including fishermen, whose repatriation is pending for want of nationality confirmation from Pakistan," the MEA stated.
"As a result of sustained efforts by the government, 2,559 Indian fishermen and 63 Indian civilian prisoners have been repatriated from Pakistan since 2014," it added.
Under the agreement, Pakistan and India exchange lists of prisoners in each other's custody on January 1 and July 1 of each year.
- With inputs from agencies
