729 Indians in Pakistani jails

New Delhi, May 17 (UNI) There are 729 Indians in Pakistani jails, including 74 prisoners of war (PoWs), the government today said.

The Pakistan government, however, does not acknowledge the presence of any PoWs, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed told the Lok Sabha during Question Hour.

According to the government, 505 Indian fishermen are lodged in Pakistani jails besides 150 civilian prisoners. The fishermen of both countries are arrested when they cross each other's unmarked maritime border.

The government also acknowledged the presence of 59 Pakistani fishermen in Indian jails. There are, however, no Pakistani PoWs in Indian jails, Mr Ahamed said.

The government was collecting information about the number of Pakistani civilians in Indian jails, he added.

Last year, India and Pakistan released jailed fishermen and civilians under an agreement between the two governments. Pakistan released 1,171 Indian fishermen and 125 civilian prisoners and India responded by releasing 222 Pakistani fishermen and 159 civilian prisoners.

This year, India has released 16 Pakistani prisoners till April and another six will be released by today, Mr Ahamed said.

There are also 287 Indian fishing boats, detained during October 2003 and March 2006, in Pakistani custody, he added.

Mr Ahamed said India has been consistently taking up the matter of release of Indian fishermen and boats with Pakistan through diplomaic channels and during high level contacts from time to time.

India has also proposed to Pakistan in April the release of all Indian and Pakistani fishermen whose nationalities have been confirmed, along with their boats.

''However, there has been no response from the Pakistani side,'' said Mr Ahamed in a statement laid on the table in the Lower House.

He said India had proposed to Pakistan a visit of relatives of missing defence personnel to various jails in Pakistan to facilitate identification of Indian PoWs.

''Pakistan, however, has expressed skepticism over the utility of such a visit,'' he said.

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