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India to Release Jailed Pakistanis Ahead of Summit
NEW DELHI, July 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - India said Wednesday that it would take steps to release all jailed Pakistani civilians as part of a raft of confidence-building measures pre-empting the upcoming Indo-Pakistan peace summit.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has instructed the Home Ministry "to take expeditious action for the release of all Pakistani civilian prisoners currently in India, after due process of law," a foreign ministry statement said.
There are currently 229 Pakistani civilians in Indian prisons, most of whom had violated immigration regulations. A foreign ministry spokeswoman put the number of Indian civilian prisoners in Pakistan at 620.
Vajpayee also instructed the coastguard that Pakistani fishermen who "inadvertently transgress into Indian waters" should henceforth be turned back rather than arrested, as was the case in the past, the statement said.
The detention of fishermen on both sides has long been a thorn in bilateral relations.
"These steps are reflective of our positive approach to all our neighbors, including Pakistan," the ministry spokeswoman said.
The goodwill measures, which included the reduction or elimination of tariffs on 50 product lines of Pakistani imports to India, came 10 days before Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf was due to arrive in India for an historic peace summit with Vajpayee.
The summit follows a more than two year freeze in contacts between the South Asian rivals.
Earlier Wednesday, Pakistan released an Indian round-the-world cyclist, jailed for three years after entering the country from Afghanistan without a visa.
The Indian measures extended to educational and cultural ties, with the government offering 20 scholarships to Pakistani students to study at Indian technical institutes.
"Pakistani poets, academics, writers and artists will be invited either individually or in groups for month-long visits," the statement said, adding that groups of school and university students would be allowed to tour Indian academic establishments.
India had invited Musharraf for a dialogue with Vajpayee in New Delhi and Musharraf has accepted Vajpayee's formal invitation.
Pakistan has recently called upon the Indian government "to end its repression of the Kashmiri people in order to create a positive environment for the Pakistan-India dialogue at the summit level."
The summit, will discuss the 54-year old dispute over Kashmir, which has caused two of three wars between the rival neighbors.
War over the disputed northern territory of Kashmir came shortly after Pakistani independence and the two countries fought again in 1965.
The predominantly Muslim Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan. Some 35,000 people have died since India started a violent crackdown against a 12-year old Muslim separatist movement in the Indian-held zone.
Human rights and separatist groups put the number at double this figure and blame it on India's excessive use of force.
Pakistan, which controls the northern third of the Himalayan state, has called for a referendum so that Kashmiris can choose between India and Pakistan.
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