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| July 01, 2006 | Saturday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 4, 1427 |
Prisoner swap: Pakistan, India trade charges
NEW DELHI, June 30: India and Pakistan accused each other of failing to honour pledges to swap hundreds of prisoners on Friday in a rare quarrel since the traditional rivals launched new peace moves three years ago.
New Delhi said Pakistan had failed to free 240 Indian fishermen in its jails who had been due to be sent home along with 19 other prisoners who were swapped with 38 Pakistanis at the Wagah border crossing on Friday.
Islamabad responded there were close to 500 Pakistani prisoners which New Delhi refused to release, saying they were yet to complete their sentences.
Both had announced they had agreed to free the prisoners as part of a pact reached between their officials last month.
“We are disappointed to note that the 240 fishermen whose national status has already been confirmed were not released today despite the understanding,” India’s foreign ministry said in a statement. Islamabad had told New Delhi 20 fishermen were due to reach Wagah on Friday but were delayed by a vehicle breakdown, it said.
“While we await their return, we would like to reiterate that all 240 Indian fishermen should be released in accordance with the understanding of 31 May, 2006,” it said referring to talks between home secretaries of the two countries.
“India is also awaiting consular access to 118 civilian prisoners and 192 fishermen and it is hoped that Pakistan will facilitate this by 31 July, in keeping with the understanding.”
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said the May 31 agreement applied equally to both countries and under it only 39 Indians fulfilled the criteria for release.
“How can they express disappointment when they are themselves doing the same? Why do they expect that Pakistan would make an exception? We would not,” she said.
The two countries have exchanged hundreds of prisoners since launching new peace moves in 2003 after coming close to another war over their long-running dispute over Kashmir.
But the peace process has made slow progress.
While the two countries arrest fishermen for straying into each other’s waters, most other prisoners are picked up for illegally crossing the border, overstaying or on charges of spying or smuggling.
Friday’s terse exchange between the two foreign offices notwithstanding, some of the prisoners freed on Friday said relations between the old enemies were apparently improving.
“Some prisoners are returning home after five years, some after eight years and some after 15 years,” Abdul Rashid, a Pakistani prisoner, told Reuters TV at Wagah.
“Efforts should be made to do away with the border so that people from the two sides can visit each other,” he said.—Reuters
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