11 Pak prisoners set free by India

New Delhi, June 12: Amid ongoing tension between the two neighbours, India on Monday released 11 Pakistani prisoners and handed them over to authorities of that country at the Wagah border post.

The Pakistani nationals were released after they completed their respective prison terms, official sources said.

The move came days after PM Narendra Modi exchanged greetings with his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Astana. The released prisoners were identified as Mohammad Javed, Mohammad Sajid, Zakir Ali, Rishi Mahender Kumar, Masood Akhtar, Murtaza Aqib, Asif Khan, Qari Mohammad, Shokat Ali, Rashid Ahmed and Saifullah.

While four of the prisoners were in Jammu and Kashmir, three were in Rajasthan, two in Punjab and one each in Delhi and Haryana. Among the Pakistani prisoners, who were released on Monday, included a Hindu.

Sources said most of the released prisoners had crossed into India inadvertently in different period of time in different sectors along the border.

All of them have completed their prison terms and they were released after the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi verified their credentials.

Most of them belong to Punjab province of Pakistan and are in their 30s, the sources said.

The release of Pakistani prisoners comes amid the ongoing hostilities between India and Pakistan.

Even on Monday, in Islamabad, the Pakistan Foreign Office summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner and condemned the alleged firing by Indian troops along the Line of Control in which three Pakistani civilians were killed.

The relations between the two nations deteriorated due to the continuing firing along the border, cross-border infiltration and unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.

It further nosedived over the death sentence given to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani court for alleged spying.

India, last month, successfully got a stay from the International Court of Justice on Jadhavs death sentence.