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Sunday, January 02, 2011
Pakistan, India exchange lists of nuclear installations, prisoners
* Two countries exchange lists of nuclear facilities every year under an agreement to prohibit any attack by either side
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India on Saturday exchanged lists of their nuclear installations and facilities under an agreement to prohibit an attack by either side. The lists are exchanged every year on January 1, under the ‘Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack Against Nuclear Installations and Facilities’, inked by the two countries on December 31, 1988.
The agreement is known as one of the best confidence building measures between the two sides that has continued to remain effective despite the status of their ties.
Pakistan and India first exchanged the lists on Jan 1, 1992.
Under the agreement, both the parties “refrain from undertaking, encouraging or participating in, directly or indirectly, any action aimed at causing destruction of, or damage to, any nuclear installation or facility in the other country.”
The agreement defines “nuclear installation or facility” as a facility including nuclear power and research reactors, fuel fabrication, uranium enrichment, isotopes separation and reprocessing facilities.
According to a statement from the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed over the list of Pakistan’s nuclear installations and facilities to an officer of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad at the Foreign Office at 11am.
Meanwhile, the Indian side handed over their list to an officer of the Pakistan High Commission at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi at 11.30am, local time.
Separately, the Foreign Affairs Ministry handed over a list of Indian prisoners in Pakistan to the Indian High Commission here, a Foreign Office spokesman said.
The list was handed over under the Agreement on Consular Access signed between Pakistan and India on May 21, 2008, under which both the countries are required to exchange lists of prisoners in each other’s custody on January 1 and July 1 of every year, the spokesman added. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk