Pakistan and India on Friday exchanged the list of nuclear installations and facilities under an agreement which prevents the two nuclear neighbours from attacking each others' atomic sites. The two countries are required under an Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack to exchange the list of each others nuclear installations and facilities with advent of a new year also to exchange a list under a separate accord of their nationals languishing in each other jails.
"India and Pakistan today [Friday] exchanged, through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad, the list of nuclear installations and facilities covered under the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear installations between India and Pakistan", according to a statement by Indian External Affairs Ministry.
The agreement, which was signed on December 31, 1988 and entered into force on January 27, 1991, provides, inter alia, that the two countries inform each other of nuclear installations and facilities to be covered under the Agreement on the first of January of every calendar year.
This is the twenty fifth consecutive exchange of such list between the two countries, the first one having taken place on January 1, 1992, it added. Meanwhile, the two countries also exchanged, through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad, the lists of nationals, including civil prisoners and fishermen of each country lodged in the jails of the other country consistent with the provisions of the Agreement on Consular Access between India and Pakistan.
The agreement, which was signed on May 31 2008, provides that a comprehensive list of nationals of each country lodged in other country's jails has to be exchanged twice each year, on January 1 and July 1. However, the number of the prisoners of the two countries in each others jails could not be confirmed officially. In a similar list Indian authorities had handed over to Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi on July 1, 2015, it was stated that there were 278 Pakistani prisoners including 251 civilians and 27 fishermen languishing in the Indian jails. As per the list exchanged with Indian High Commission in Islamabad last year, it was stated 403 Indian prisoners including 48 civilians and 355 fishermen were serving their sentences in Pakistani jails.