Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan have upheld a three-decade-long practice of exchanging lists of nuclear installations and prisoners, a signal of cooperation amid their strained diplomatic ties.
On the first day of 2024, continuing a tradition that began in 1992, both nations exchanged information on nuclear facilities and detailed lists of prisoners detained in each country’s jails, under the Agreement on Consular Access of 2008.
From India’s side, the lists handed over to Pakistan included details of 337 civilian prisoners and 81 fishermen, presumed to be of Pakistani origin.
Conversely, Pakistan’s lists to India accounted for 47 civilian prisoners and 184 fishermen, believed to be Indian nationals. India has made a humanitarian appeal for expedited release and repatriation of its fishermen who have completed their sentences, and for immediate consular access to the remaining civilian prisoners.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs has emphasised the nation’s commitment to prioritising all humanitarian issues, including those concerning prisoners and fishermen in each other’s custody. In this vein, India has requested Pakistan to fasttrack the confirmation of nationality for 65 prisoners, including fishermen, awaiting repatriation.
Since 2014, due to sustained efforts, 2639 Indian fishermen and 67 Indian civilian prisoners have returned home from Pakistan, with 478 fishermen and 9 civilians repatriated in 2023 alone.
