ISLAMABAD, 1 June 2006 — Pakistan and India yesterday agreed to speed up the release of prisoners as they ended two days of talks on fighting crime, as part of efforts by the South Asian rivals to end decades of hostility.
India asked Pakistan to hand over alleged terror mastermind Dawood Ibrahim along with hijackers of Indian Airlines flight to Kandahar in 1999 even as the two countries agreed to take ‘effective steps’ to eliminate terrorism.
They also agreed to release all fishermen in each other’s custody and civilian prisoners who have completed their sentence by June 30, said a joint statement Wednesday at the end of the two-day talks between Indian Home Secretary V.K. Duggal and his Pakistani counterpart Syed Kamal Shah.
During the talks held in “a frank, candid and cordial atmosphere,” both sides “reiterated their commitment to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and re-emphasized the need for effective steps for the complete elimination of this menace,” said the joint statement. “They also underlined the need to pursue effective and sustained action against the terrorists,” the statement added.
Amid pledge to fight terrorism, New Delhi presented Islamabad a list of 38 most wanted that included banned militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Masood Azhar, while Pakistan gave the names of 58 most sought after criminals, officials said.
India repeated its demand that underworld don Dawood, accused of masterminding the multiple blasts in Bombay in 1993 that created mayhem in India’s business capital, was hiding in Karachi. Lately, there have been reports that Islamabad had been tightening screws on Dawood under American pressure. Three years ago, Washington declared Dawood a “specially designated global terrorist” with links to Al-Qaeda after a similar United Nations’ notification.
Islamabad also vehemently rejected New Delhi’s charge of promoting terrorism and claimed that it was “a victim of terrorism and playing a key role in the war on terror,” sources said.
“The meeting was more than successful. We agreed on all points and hope to continue the trend,’ Shah said. “We will work together against terrorism. We will nab the criminals and we will end the menace of drug trafficking,” he added.
Shah said both Pakistan and India are at the receiving end regarding terrorism and drug trafficking. “We have to join hands against the evils.” He said the two sides also agreed on regular exchanges of civilian prisoners. “We have been swapping prisoners but now we will do more in this sector.”
The two sides will exchange lists of civilian prisoners by 15 June 2006 to facilitate consular access by July 31, 2006 and subsequent release. “They also agreed to the early release of inadvertent crossers, minors, senior citizens and disabled persons, who are not involved in any specific cases,” the statement said.
In a goodwill gesture ahead of the talks, India released 59 Pakistani fishermen Monday and Pakistan reciprocated Tuesday by freeing 71 Indians.
Both countries also decided to step up their cooperation in combating drug trafficking.
