New Delhi, Feb 10 (FN Agency) Eighty-three Indian defence personnel, including prisoners of war, are believed to be in Pakistan’s custody, but their presence has not been acknowledged by Islamabad so far. The matter was again raised by the Indian High Commission with Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry on January 1 this year, parliament was told on Thursday. Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, answering questions in the Rajya Sabha, said “As per available information, 83 Indian defence personnel, including prisoners of war, are believed to be in Pakistan’s custody, but their presence has not been acknowledged by Pakistan so far. “The Government has been consistently taking up the matter of release and repatriation of the missing defence personnel with Pakistan through diplomatic channels.
The matter was again raised by the High Commission of India in Islamabad with the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its communication dated 01 January 2023,” he said. He also said that according to the lists of prisoners exchanged between the two sides on January 1 this year, Pakistan has acknowledged the custody of 654 fishermen and 51 civilian prisoners who are Indian or are believed to be Indian. There are 339 civilian prisoners and 95 fishermen in Indian custody who are either Pakistani or believed-to-be-Pakistani, he added. The MoS said that India has called for early release and repatriation of civilian prisoners, missing defence personnel, and fishermen along with their boats, from Pakistan’s custody.
“In this context, Pakistan was asked to expedite the release and repatriation of 631 Indian fishermen and 02 Indian civilian prisoners, who have completed their sentence and whose nationality has been confirmed and conveyed to Pakistan. In addition, Pakistan has been asked to provide immediate consular access to the remaining 30 fishermen and 22 civilian prisoners in Pakistan’s custody, who are believed-to-be-Indian.” “As a result of sustained efforts by the Government, 58 Indian civilian prisoners, 2160 Indian fishermen and 57 Indian fishing boats have been repatriated from Pakistan since 2014. This includes five Indian civilian prisoners and 40 Indian fishermen who have been repatriated from Pakistan in 2022,” he said.