The following action points were agreed between India and Pakistan during the Foreign Secretary level talks held from 27-28 December, 2004 on issues related to apprehended fishermen, civilian prisoners and missing defence personnel:
i) immediate notification would be provided to the respective High Commissions through the Foreign Ministries of arrested Pakistani/Indian nationals;
ii) Consular access would be provided within three months of apprehension;
iii) Repatriation would be done immediately after completion of sentence and nationality verification;
iv) A mechanism would be introduced for early repatriation, without sentencing of inadvertent crossers;
v) A similar mechanism would be established for early release, without sentencing of those under 16 apprehended by either side.
This information was given to the Lok Sabha by the Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri E. Ahamed while replying to a question by Shri Madhu Goud Yakshi and Shri K.S. Rao.
AK/SK/JA