Pakistan Hands Over To India A List of Missing Defence Personnel From 1965 & 1971 Wars

Pakistan on Monday handed over to India a list of defence personnel who went missing in the wars of 1965 and 1971 while exchanging the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in each other’s custody, the Foreign Office said.

Pakistan Hands Over To India A List of Missing Defence Personnel From 1965 & 1971 Wars

Pakistan on Monday handed over to India a list of defence personnel who went missing in the wars of 1965 and 1971 while exchanging the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in each other’s custody, the Foreign Office said. India and Pakistan exchanged the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in each other’s custody through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad, it said.

Pakistan has handed over a list of 254 Indians or believed-to-be-Indian civilian prisoners and fishermen in Pakistani jails, while India shared a list of 452 Pakistani or believed-to-be-Pakistani civilian prisoners and fishermen in Indian jails, it said. “A list of 38 missing Pakistani defence personnel, believed to be in India’s custody since the wars of 1965 and 1971, was also handed over by Pakistan,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

Under the provisions of the bilateral Agreement on Consular Access 2008, such lists are exchanged every year on January 1 and July 1. “As a result of sustained efforts by the government, 2,639 Indian fishermen and 71 Indian civilian prisoners have been repatriated from Pakistan since 2014. This includes 478 Indian fishermen and 13 Indian civilian prisoners who have been repatriated from Pakistan since 2023 till date,” it added.

Pakistan Delegation In India To Discuss Indus Water Treaty

The delegation which arrived in India on Sunday evening in connection with the 1960 Indus Water Treaty is scheduled to visit Kishtwar to see the Dam sites. The Indus Waters Treaty was signed between then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and former Pakistan President Ayub Khan in 1960 with the World Bank as a signatory to the pact.

The treaty warrants the two sides to meet once a year, alternately in India and Pakistan. However, the 2022 year’s meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi was cancelled in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The last meeting was held in March 2023.