By Aslam Chandio, TwoCircles.net,
Islamabad: The Pakistan’s and Indian governments on Tuesday exchanged lists of prisoners lodged in each other’s respective jails.
Lists are exchanged under the Consular Agreement signed between the two countries in May 2008. Lists of prisoners are to be exchanged twice a year, on January 1 and July 1 respectively.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said, “Consistent with the provisions of this agreement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed over a list of 296 Indian prisoners in Pakistan to the High Commission of India in Islamabad today”.
According to the list of Indian prisoners, there are currently 47 common citizens, 237 fishermen and 12 youthful offenders languishing in Pakistani jails.
The Foreign Office Spokesperson confirmed that a similar list of Pakistani prisoners lodged in Indian jails was also handed over to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
(Aslam Chandio is an Islamabad based journalist. He tweets at @aslamchandio_ )
Related:
Indo-Pak prisoners’ list issued by Aaghaz-E-Dosti