India Urges Pakistan to Expedite Release of Indian Prisoners in Custody

India Urges Pakistan to Expedite Release of Indian Prisoners: India and Pakistan on Wednesday exchanged lists of prisoners in each other's custody, as New Delhi asked Islamabad to expedite release of 183 Indian nationals who were already released after serving their prison terms in Pakistan and also sought immediate consular access to 18 more prisoners.

The two sides also exchanged lists of nuclear installations whose attack cannot be resorted to in case hostilities ensue, continuing a tradition established in 1992 that survives blood ties between the two neighbours being at an all-time low.

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According to a statement from the external affairs ministry, India shared the names of 381 civilian prisoners and 81 fishermen in its custody, who are Pakistani or are believed to be Pakistani.

Pakistan submitted the names of 49 civilian prisoners and 217 fishermen under its custody who are Indian or believed to be Indian.

The two sides exchange lists of prisoners and fishermen under the provision of the 2008 Agreement on Consular Access, on January 1 and July 1 each year.

"Pakistan has been asked to 'expedite the release and repatriation' of 183 Indian fishermen and civilian prisoners who have served their term," the statement said. India also sought immediate consular access to 18 civilian prisoners and fisherfolk believed to be Indian and have yet to be provided consular access.

In addition, India sought the “early release and repatriation of civilian prisoners, fishermen along with their boats, and missing Indian defence personnel from Pakistan’s custody”, the statement said.

Pakistan was also “requested to ensure the safety, security and welfare of all Indian and believed to be Indian civilian prisoners and fishermen, pending their release and repatriation”, it said.

The representative from the Indian side said that India always will be concerned with and looks forward to the resolution of all humanitarian issues, including those concerning prisoners and fishermen in each other's land. India thus urged Pakistan to speed up the nationality verification process regarding 76 civilian prisoners and fishermen believed to be Pakistani and whose repatriation is pending for want of nationality confirmation from Pakistan.

The number of Indian fishermen repatriated from Pakistan stands at 2,639 in total together with an additional 71 civilian prisoners since 2014; of this figure, however, 478 fishermen and 13 civilian prisoners were returned since the year began.

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The lists of nuclear facilities were simultaneously exchanged through diplomatic channels in New Delhi and Islamabad, in keeping with provisions of the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities, the external affairs ministry said in a separate statement.

Neither country discloses details of the nuclear installations.

The agreement was signed on December 31, 1988, and entered into force on January 27, 1991. It states that India and Pakistan must inform each other about the nuclear installations and the facilities to be covered under the pact every first day of January of every calendar year.

It was the 34th consecutive exchange of the lists, the first of which took place in January 1992.

Continuous dialogue was brought to halt after the Mumbai attacks of 2008 executed by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant Islamic terrorist group based in Pakistan, which claimed 166 lives and injured many.

The leadership in both countries was endeavoring to revive contacts, which were derailed by incidents of terrorism perpetrated by groups based in Pakistan. They drew very near to conflict following the Pulwama suicide terror attack on Feb 14, 2019, which was blamed on the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

External affairs minister S Jaishankar traveled to Islamabad His visit to Pakistan marked the first by an Indian foreign minister to that country in nearly a decade His trip was to participate in a meeting under the platform of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation wherein high-level decision-making in that organization takes place last October.

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