India, Pakistan won't jail civilians straying in their territory

"It was unanimously decided that if any civilian mistakenly crosses into each other's territory he would be handed over to the respective country during flag meetings," Hemant Purohit, Deputy Inspector General of India's Border Security Force (BSF), told reporters in the northern Indian city of Amritsar.

The decision was taken at a day-long meeting of the BSF and Pakistan Rangers here. This was the second meeting in two months.

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Other issues discussed included ways to minimise tensions between the two sides and increase the effectiveness of border patrols, another BSF official said.

The Pakistani delegation was led by Wing Commander Sher Jaman Khan, the official said.

India and Pakistan usually jail people straying accidentally into each other's territory. These people languish in prison for months, sometimes years, before they are released and sent back.

Last year, a number of civilian prisoners were released by both countries since the thawing of India-Pakistan ties after Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee offered a hand of friendship to Pakistan in April last year.

The BSF official said Indian and Pakistani border guards were jointly patrolling the border in three districts of the northern Punjab state - Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ferozpur.

"Joint patrolling will prove helpful to prevent infiltration on both sides which is of utmost importance to maintain peaceful relations," he said.

The last meeting between the two sides was held on December 20, 2003, when a BSF delegation led by commandant Darbara Singh went to Pakistan.

Monthly meetings between the BSF and the Pakistani Rangers were routine until December 13, 2001, when an Islamic militant attack on India's parliament complex strained ties between the two neighbours and brought them to the brink of war the following year.