India, Pakistan to hold talks on release of POWs

Wagah Border, Mar 26 : Pakistan and India will hold talks on the release of prisoners of war (POW) of 1965 and 1971 conflicts.

"This issue is being taken up at higher level between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on both sides, and both sides are working on it and there is certain hope of release of prisoners," said Mohammad Haroon Aslam, Major General, Pakistan Rangers.

Major General Aslam is leading the Pakistani side for the four-day bi-annual meeting between Border Security Forces (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers that commenced here on Wednesday.

Additional Director General (ADG) of BSF G S Gill is leading the Indian side.

A wide range of issues, including unprovoked firing, cross border crimes, illegal border crossing and incidents of inadvertent border crossing will also come up during the negotiations.

"These kinds of meetings including the biannual meetings for which we are proceeding now. These (meetings) are meant to resolve border issues which include aspects of border crossings, narcotics (and) flow of human smuggling," Major General Aslam said.

The delegation is visiting India as a part of the bi-annual fixture of meetings between the Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers.

Officials of the narcotics departments of the both countries are also taking part in the talks. By Ravinder Singh Robin

ANI