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Friday, November 22, 2024  
19 Jumada Al-Awwal 1446  

Pakistan provides list of nuclear facilities to India under annual practice

India also handed over a similar list to Pakistan, Foreign Office says list of prisoners also exchanged
A 2015 photo showing successful test of short-range nuclear-capable Hatf-IX missile. Photo by ISPR/EPA.
A 2015 photo showing successful test of short-range nuclear-capable Hatf-IX missile. Photo by ISPR/EPA.

Pakistan said it had handed a list of nuclear installations and facilities in the country to the Indian mission in Islamabad on Sunday under a decades-old agreement between the two nuclear-armed rivals.

The neighbours have fought three wars and have had a number of military skirmishes in recent years. Last year an Indian missile launched accidentally landed in Pakistan, setting off alarms across the world.

“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,” Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement.

It added that, under an agreement signed between the two in 1988, lists are exchanged annually on the first of January, and that India had simultaneously handed over a list to the Pakistani mission in New Delhi.

India’s External Affair’s Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

The practice of exchanging the lists has been continuing since Jan. 1, 1992.

With the help of China, Pakistan has recently increased its use of nuclear energy to meet rising demand for electricity.

Pakistan first officially tested nuclear weapons in 1998 and has since developed a significant stockpile of nuclear capable missiles, as has India.

List of prisoners exchanged

Pakistan’s Foreign Office also said that both countries had exchanged a list of prisoners incarcerated in each other’s jails.

“The Government of Pakistan shared with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad a list of 705 Indian prisoners detained in Pakistan, including 51 civilian prisoners and 654 fishermen,” the statement said.

“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.”

The lists are exchanged as per Consular Access Agreement of 2008 on January 1 and July 1 every year.

The statement also said that Pakistan had separately asked for return of 51 civilians and 94 fisherman who have completed prison sentences in India, as well as requesting consular access to missing defence personnel form 1965 and 1971 wars and 56 special civil prisoners.

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