October 17, 2008	Friday	Shawwal 17, 1429

LAHORE, Oct 16: Border forces of Pakistan and India decided on Thursday to halt defence-related works on both sides, start joint patrol to curb smuggling and repatriate as early as possible people crossing the border inadvertently.

The decisions were taken during three days of talks between the Pakistan Rangers and India’s Border Security Force at the Rangers Headquarters here. BSF additional director-general Shri Utthan Kumar Bansal and Rangers (Punjab) director-general Maj-Gen Mohammad Yaqoob announced the decisions at a news conference.

The meeting decided that firing on civilians on both sides of the border would be avoided and both sides would jointly strive to eradicate the menace of smuggling and drug trafficking.

People crossing the border inadvertently would be returned as early as possible in order to avoid complicated repatriation procedures. During the meeting, the two sides exchanged lists of such people.

The two sides agreed to provide advance information about ‘practice firing’ of small arms at ranges located in close vicinity of the international border to avoid any misunderstanding and untoward incident. They also agreed to issue prior warnings to fishermen violating sea limits.

Pakistan has released 130 Indian fishermen and five prisoners and India 14 Pakistani fishermen and 38 prisoners over the past six months. Rangers officials called for immediate release of 188 Pakistani prisoners and 95 others who had completed their sentence. BSF officials said that prisoners who had completed their sentence would be released soon.

The two sides also agreed to complete verification, repair and maintenance of boundary pillars along the international border.

Pakistan had rebuild 61 pillars and India 16 since the last bi-annual meeting held from March 26 to 29 this year. The 18-member Indian delegation returned home via Wagha in the evening.