ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India informed each other of their nuclear installations and facilities on Sunday while exchanging a list of prisoners in line with international agreements signed by both countries, the foreign office said in a statement.
The two nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars and numerous border skirmishes after getting independence from Britain in August 1947.
India tested its nuclear capability in 1974, prompting Pakistan to develop its own strategic program in subsequent years before declaring it to the world in May 1998.
While neither country has ever used nuclear weapons in a conflict, the fear that their tense relations may go beyond the conventional threshold has continued to persist among other states.
The two sides signed an agreement on the prohibition of attacks on nuclear facilities in December 1998, making it obligatory for them to inform each other about their strategic installations at the outset of each calendar year.
“Pursuant to the Agreement, the list of nuclear installations and facilities in Pakistan was officially handed over to a representative of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today,” the foreign office said.
“Simultaneously, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs also handed over the list of India’s nuclear installations and facilities to a representative of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi,” it added.
Aside from sharing these details, the two sides also exchanged the list of prisoners in each other’s custody.
“The simultaneous exchange of lists took place in pursuance of the Consular Access Agreement of 2008,” the foreign office informed in a separate statement. “Under the agreement, both countries are required to exchange the lists of prisoners in each other’s custody on 1st January and 1st July, every year.”
The list prepared by Pakistan contained the names of 705 Indian prisoners, including 654 fishermen.
“The Indian Government also shared with the High Commission for Pakistan in New Delhi a list of 434 Pakistani prisoners in India, including 339 civilian prisoners and 95 fishermen,” it added.
The foreign office statement said Pakistan requested India to consider the early release and repatriation of its 51 civilian prisoners and 94 fishermen, who have completed their respective sentences and whose national statuses have been confirmed.
“Furthermore, a request for grant of consular access to missing defense personnel of the 1965 and 1971 wars, and special consular access to 56 civil prisoners [has] also been made," the statement added.
