Pakistan and India have exchanged prisoners’ lists in pursuance of the of the 2008 Agreement for Consular Access.

The agreement allows each nation to learn how many of their nationals are being held at the prisons of the other country.

The government of Pakistan handed over a list of 308 Indian prisoners held in Pakistan (42 civilian prisoners and 266 fishermen) to the High Commission of India in Islamabad, a statement by the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan said on Saturday.

The government of India handed over the list of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails to the Pakistan High Commission, New Delhi, it added.

“According to the list, there are a total of 417 Pakistanis in Indian jails (343 civilian prisoners and 74 fishermen),” it said.

“The Government of India has been urged to release and repatriate all those Pakistani civilian prisoners and fishermen, who have completed their respective sentence and their national status stands confirmed,” the statement stated.

Pakistan and India exchange the lists of prisoners in each other’s custody on January, 1 and July 1, every year. The exchange takes place in pursuance of the Agreement on Consular Access, signed on May 21, 2008.

Pakistan has recently released hundreds of Indian prisoners as a goodwill gesture.

The Pakistan authorities released another 200 fishermen on June 2, after Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s visit to the Indian state of Goa in May. The first batch of 198 fishermen was released on May 11 as a goodwill gesture.

Pakistan decided to release 600 Indian fishermen held in Pakistan jails when Bilawal was planning to leave India.

Foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the release of the fishermen is in line with Pakistan’s policy of not politicising humanitarian matters, adding that compassion should take precedence over politics.