Pakistan, India exchange lists of nationals in their jails

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India exchanged on Saturday lists of the prisoners languishing in their respective prisons, ARY News reported.

The Foreign Office of Pakistan said Pakistani authorities handed over a list of Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails to the High Commission of India in Islamabad. According to the list, there are total 546 prisoners incarcerated in Pakistani jails, of which 52 are common citizens while 494 fishermen.

The foreign office said the Indian government has also handed over a list of Pakistani inmates languishing in Indian jails to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi adding that there are total 341 Pakistani citizens in Indian jails, of which 263 are common citizens while 78 fishermen who had veered into the Indian waters while fishing in the open sea.

The two countries exchange details of the nationals in their respective jails twice a year – on 1^st Jan and 1^ST July – under a counselor agreement signed between the two countries in 2008.