Islamabad: Officials from the Indian High Commission in Pakistan met with two Indian nationals, who were arrested on charges of espionage four years ago, at the high-security Adiala Jail at Rawalpindi, media reports said here.
It was for the first time in the history of Kashmir that Indian authorities had to get access to Kashmiris jailed in Pakistan.
Two Kashmiri youths — 29-year-old Feroze Ahmad Lone and 24-year-old Noor Muhammad Wani, hailing from the Gurez area of Bandipora — were arrested in Gilgit-Baltistan, part of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in 2020, ‘The Express Tribune’ newspaper said quoting sources.
“The two Indian nationals were recently transferred to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail from a prison in Gilgit-Baltistan,” the report said.
The consular access was provided at the request of the Indian government, according to sources familiar with the development, it added.
There was no immediate response from either the Indian High Commission here or the Pakistan Foreign Office.
Quoting diplomatic sources, the report said, “A three-member delegation from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad met with the two prisoners at Adiala Jail. Interior Ministry officers were also present during the meeting on Monday.”
According to Indian media, both men had been missing from PoK since November 2018 and sources indicated they had crossed the border illegally and were subsequently arrested on spying charges, the newspaper said.
