RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Government has again appealed to the world conscience and signatories to the Geneva Conventions to take appropriate steps to ensure respect of the Conventions by India in the context of Pakistani prisoners of war.

An official spokesman told newsmen here today [Jan 6] that Pakistan had made representations to a large number of Governments, International Committee of Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations, drawing their attention to the violations of the Geneva Conventions committed by India both in regard to the delay in the release and repatriation of the POWs and the treatment to which they were being subjected in the Indian camps.

He regretted that India had linked up this issue with the question of Bangladesh recognition by Pakistan and said that this hardening of attitude ... would cause a stalemate in the context of talks that had been initiated by President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and had led to the Simla Accord in the hope that they would lead to normalisation of the situation... . Reiterating that the question of the recognition of Bangladesh could be discussed only between the representatives of Pakistan and Dacca, he said Pakistan could not agree to the use of POWs as political pawns. — Special representative

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2023