Pakistan has 75 Indian personnel in custody

New Delhi: At least 75 missing Indian defence personnel, including 54 prisoners of war, are believed to be in Pakistan’s custody, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

But the presence of these missing Indian military personnel has not been acknowledged so far by Pakistan, minister of state for external affairs V.K. Singh said in a written reply.

As of July 27, there are 417 fishermen in Pakistan’s custody and 15 fishermen in Sri Lanka’s custody, who are believed to be Indian nationals. “In case of Pakistan, consular access is awaited and information about the states that they belong to is not available. In case of Sri Lanka, the 15 fishermen are believed to be from Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry,” Mr Singh said.

Replying to another question, he said, the government regularly takes up with Sri Lanka and Pakistan the matter of early release and repatriation of Indian fishermen and fishing boats.