'ALARMING': MEA slams Pakistan over 'increasing Indian prisoners death'

New Delhi: Regarding the increasing number of deaths of Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails, India on Friday reiterated that Pakistan is duty-bound to ensure the security of all Indians in its custody and said that incidents of deaths of Indian prisoners are alarming. In a weekly Presser, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi said, "These increasing incidents of deaths of Indian prisoners are alarming and raise the question of their safety and security in Pakistani jails."Underlining the situation as an ongoing problem, Bagchi noted that there have been an increasing number of deaths of fishermen in recent times and the Indian government has raised the question of the safety of Indian prisoners including fishermen to Pakistan.

"This is an ongoing problem. What we understand is that there have been an increasing number of deaths of fishermen in recent times. 6 Indian prisoners (out of which 5 of them were fishermen) have died in Pakistani custody in the last 9 months or so," Bagchi added. He pointed out that despite of completion of sentences for all six Indian prisoners and multiple demands from the Indian side for their release and repatriation, the prisoners were illegally detained by the neighbouring nation.

However, India`s High Commission in Islamabad has raised the issue several times of immediate repatriation of Indian prisoners."We would like to reiterate that Pakistan is duty-bound to ensure the safety and security of all Indians in its custody and we request the Pakistan government once again to release and repatriate all Indians immediately," Bagchi added.

Earlier in August, Union Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Thursday said that the government has always given the highest priority to the security of Indian fishermen and all assistance is being provided for their early release from Pakistani custody. Moreover, time and again the cases of apprehension of Indian fishermen and their fishing boats by Pakistan authorities are consistently raised with the Pakistan Government and it is conveyed that this issue may be considered on humanitarian and livelihood grounds. Earlier, as many as 20 Indian fishermen were released by the Pakistan government, on June 20, through the Attari Wagah border. The fishermen, who had entered the Pakistani waters unknowingly, were released after spending four years in prison