As many as 197 Pakistanis languishing in Indian jails without consular access

Pakistani authorities claim that India has violated a bilateral agreement which makes access within 90 days mandatory.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday claimed that India was denying consular access to 197 prisoners, in violation of Agreement on Consular Access signed between the two countries in 2008.

The Pakistan High Commission for Pakistan in New Delhi informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that currently there are 469 Pakistani prisoners are languishing in Indian Jails which include 164 fishermen and 305 civil prisoners.

According to documents available with the APP, the High Commission in its report informed that out of all the prisoners, 197 have not been provided consular access by India despite several requests.

According to the May 2008 agreement, consular access has to be provided within 90 days of arrest of either country's prisoners. But the agreement was not followed by the Indian side, claimed the documents.

As many as 30 Pakistani prisoners have completed their sentence and their national status as Pakistani has been confirmed. The Indians, however, have not repatriated them, the documents added. A ministry official said that the Pakistan mission in New Delhi was in contact with Indian authorities for the early release of these prisoners.

To a question he said that the issue of consular access has been raised with India as per the agreement.