ISLAMABAD: In continuation of their decades-long exercise, Pakistan and India exchanged lists of their respective nuclear facilities and prisoners on the first day of the New Year, the Foreign Office said on Wednesday.
The FO’s statement added that the annual exchange was done under the Agreement between Pakistan and India on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities.
The list of nuclear facilities and installations in Pakistan was officially handed over to the Indian High Commission representative in Islamabad at the Ministry of External Affairs.
Simultaneously, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs handed over a list of India’s nuclear facilities and installations to the representative of the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that the agreement signed on December 31, 1988 stipulated, among other things, that the two countries would notify each other of their nuclear facilities and installations on January 1 of each calendar year. Will inform.
He added that since the agreement between Pakistan and India came into force on January 27, 1991, the two countries have been exchanging lists since January 1, 1992.
Similarly, neighboring countries also exchanged lists of prisoners in each other’s custody through diplomatic channels.
The lists were simultaneously exchanged under the 2008 Consular Access Agreement, the spokesman said.
Under the agreement, the two countries are obliged to exchange lists of prisoners in each other’s custody on January 1 and July 1 every year, he added.
Islamabad handed over the list of 266 Indian prisoners (49 civilian prisoners and 217 fishermen) imprisoned in Pakistan to the representative of the Indian High Commission in the federal capital.
At the same time, New Delhi shared a list of Pakistanis in Indian jails with an official of the Pakistan High Commission, the FO said, adding that there are a total of 462 Pakistanis in Indian jails (381 civilian prisoners and 81 fishermen).
In addition, Islamabad urged New Delhi to release and repatriate all Pakistanis – 52 civilian prisoners and 56 fishermen – who have completed their sentences and whose nationality has been confirmed. is
“The Government of India is also urged to ensure the safety, security and welfare of all Pakistani or perceived Pakistani prisoners awaiting their release and repatriation,” the statement read.
Additionally, a request has been made to grant consular access to 38 missing defense personnel from the 1965 and 1971 wars, the FO spokesperson added.