Chidambaram Clears Release of Four Pakistani Prisoners
Setting a positive tone ahead of his visit to Islamabad, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has cleared release of four Pakistanis in Indian prisons, said media reports.
“The home minister has approved the release of four Pakistani prisoners as a gesture of goodwill,” the home ministry said in a statement here.
Currently lodged in different jails in Gujarat, these prisoners will be repatriated from the Attari land border in Punjab June 30 and handed over to the Pakistani Rangers, reports said.
Yesterday, Pakistan released 17 Indians on the eve of meeting between foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan in Islamabad.
The Indians, including four from Punjab who had strayed into Pakistan, were handed over to Indian authorities at the border.
Chidambaram is scheduled to leave for Pakistan late today and will represent India at a meeting of SAARC home ministers in Islamabad on Saturday.
The eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) groups Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Maldives and Afghanistan.
Chidambaram will also hold talks with Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
At his meeting with Malik, Chidambaram is expected to press for concrete action against Hafiz Saeed, suspected by India to be the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai carnage.
Speaking in Islamabad, Malik on Thursday said that all matters will be on the table during his meeting with Chidambaram.
(Based on internet reports)
