I-Day deadline for release of fishermen, prisoners

New Delhi, July 4: While sticking to their traditional stands on cross-border militancy, India and Pakistan on Wednesday set an Independence Day (August 14-15) deadline for the release of all fishermen and prisoners who have completed their sentences in either countries. A decision on this confidence building measure came during the Home Secretary-level talks that continued till late last night.

The countries have also finalised a protocol on consular access to prisoners and agreed to put in place a liberalised visa regime. Both the countries will take immediate steps to reconcile their numbers to facilitate their early release. Pakistan Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah said his country had no role in the continued influx of militants into India, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, which has seen a rise in militancy over the past few months. Pakistan is also believed to have referred to “foreign-sponsored” activities on its homeground, particularly Balochistan and Sind.

The Indian side, led by Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, expressed the Government’s concerns over terrorism and fugitives and sought effective action from Pakistan. India is learnt to have handed over a list of fugitives believed to be in Pakistan on the basis of information received from Interpol. The joint statement released today, however, said: “Both sides strongly condemned all acts of terrorism and underlined the imperative need for effective and sustained measures against terrorist activities. The two sides recoginsed that terrorists and criminals in either country need to be given swift and effective punishment.”

Shah and three other members of the Pakistani delegation left after midnight yesterday following clashes in Islamabad. Other members of the delegation had another round of discussions with the Indian team today, focusing on follow-up action on decisions taken yesterday, said a Home Ministry spokesperson. Officials, however, admitted that more discussions were needed before finalising the new visa regime.

Samjhauta: Pak victims to get aid

New Delhi: Nearly five months after the Samjhauta Express bomb blasts, India will release Rs 2.7 crore on Thursday as compensation for the Pakistani nationals killed in the Terror attack. Kin of each of the 33 Pakistanis killed in the blasts will get Rs 10 lakh from the Indian Government, officials said here on Wednesday.

Ads By Google

Message*	Maximum characters allowed

Name*		Email ID*
Subject*		Country*

TERMS OF USE:
The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).

I agree to the terms of use.