India asks Pakistan for early release and repatriation of civilian prisoners in its custody
| 2024-01-01
Representative image.
India and Pakistan exchange lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in their custody
The Government of India has called for early release and repatriation of civilian prisoners, missing Indian defence personnel, and fishermen along with their boats, from Pakistan's custody, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday (January 1, 2023).
The request was made in the process of India and Pakistan exchanging the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in their custody. The lists were exchanged through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad.
Such lists are exchanged every year on January 1 and July 1 under the provisions of the 2008 Agreement on Consular Access.
India has shared lists of 337 civilian prisoners and 81 fishermen in its custody, who are Pakistani or are believed to be Pakistani. Similarly, Pakistan has shared lists of 47 civilian prisoners and 184 fishermen in its custody, who are Indian or are believed to be Indian.
Pakistan was asked to expedite the release and repatriation of 184 Indian fishermen, who have completed their sentence. In addition, Pakistan has been asked to provide immediate consular access to the remaining 12 civilian prisoners in Pakistan's custody, who are believed to be Indian, the MEA said.
"India remains committed to addressing, on priority, all humanitarian matters, including those pertaining to prisoners and fishermen in each other's country," the MEA said.
In this context, India has urged Pakistan to expedite necessary action at its end to confirm the nationality status of 65 believed-to-be Pakistani prisoners, including fishermen, whose repatriation is pending for want of nationality confirmation from Pakistan.
As a result of sustained efforts by the Government, 2639 Indian fishermen and 67 Indian civilian prisoners have been repatriated from Pakistan since 2014. This includes 478 Indian fishermen and 9 Indian civilian prisoners who were repatriated from Pakistan in 2023, the MEA said.
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