Pakistan and India exchanged two border safety personnel Wednesday, officers stated, marking one other step towards easing tensions following a cease-fire that halted 4 days of cross-border hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
Indian authorities handed over Muhammadullah of the Pakistan Rangers to Pakistani officers on the Wagah-Attari border, state-run PTV News reported, citing safety sources.
While Pakistan returned an Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) trooper who had allegedly crossed into Pakistani territory final month, officers stated.
The BSF trooper, recognized as Purnam Kumar Shaw, who had been within the custody of Pakistan Rangers since April 23, was handed over to India on Wednesday by the joint test publish Attari, Amritsar, in northern India, stated an official assertion launched by New Delhi.
“The handover was carried out peacefully and in accordance with established protocols,” it stated.
The launch of the Indian and Pakistani safety personnel comes after tensions rocketed between India and Pakistan, together with an trade of missiles and drones final week, following an assault by unidentified gunmen that left 26 folks useless, largely Indian vacationers, on April 22 in India-ruled Kashmir.
The hostilities ended after the U.S. mediated a cease-fire between the 2 South Asian neighbors final weekend.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army introduced Wednesday that two of its navy personnel who had been injured throughout final week’s hostilities with India succumbed to their accidents, bringing the whole variety of deaths within the nation to 53, together with 40 civilians and 5 Pakistan Air Force personnel. It additionally reported that 199 Pakistani civilians and 78 of its troopers had been injured.
The Indian aspect has additionally confirmed 5 navy personnel casualties.
The hostilities escalated when India launched Operation Sindoor, firing missiles into Pakistan and Pakistan-ruled Kashmir on the intervening evening of May 6 and seven, hitting what New Delhi stated had been “nine terror locations.”
Pakistan responded on Saturday underneath the “banner of Marka-e-Haq,” firing Al-Fatah missiles as a part of Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos, or “Iron Wall,” hitting 26 Indian navy targets and air drive bases in Jammu and Kashmir in addition to India.
The rival militaries additionally engaged in heavy firefights, leading to many deaths on either side of the Line of Control (LOC), a de facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir Valley between the 2 neighbors.
Source: www.dailysabah.com