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Published 12 Apr, 2011 09:57pm

89 Indian prisoners to be freed

ISLAMABAD, April 12: Pakistan will free 89 Indian prisoners on Friday as a follow-up to last month's interior/home secretaries' meeting in New Delhi.

India released 39 Pakistani prisoners on Monday.

“The government of Pakistan has conveyed its decision to the Indian government to release 89 Indian fishermen/prisoners… . These Indian nationals will be handed over to the Indian side on 15 April 2011,” a statement issued by Foreign Office said on Tuesday.

The prisoners being released are from the lists of their nationals in each other's custody swapped by the interior/home secretaries.

The two sides are scheduled to exchange complete lists of prisoners on July 1 under an agreement renewed at the New Delhi meeting.

Under an agreement on consular access signed on May 21, 2008, the two countries are required to exchange lists of prisoners every year on Jan 1 and July 1. But after the Mumbai attacks in November the same year, India stopped providing the list.

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