Pakistan handed over an Indian soldier on Wednesday who was captured on its territory, a new sign of easing tensions between the two nuclear neighbors who witnessed a four-day confrontation last week.
A border guard was handed over to India on Wednesday after being detained on April 23 for 21 days as he crossed the international border in Punjab’s Ferozepur district to Pakistani territory and the Pakistani Rangers caught him.
Indian Border Security Force (BSF) command announced that “the handover was conducted peacefully and in accordance with established protocols” and that this was possible because of regular meetings with the Pakistani Rangers.
An agreement was reached Saturday after four days of missile, artillery, and drone attacks and counterattacks across their border. The ceasefire between the two countries has been largely observed since.
Pakistan said on Tuesday that it remains committed to the truce with India, but vowed to respond to any future aggression by New Delhi with full resolve.
The comments from Islamabad came in response to an address to the nation by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, in which he warned Pakistan that New Delhi would target “terrorist hideouts” across the border again if there were new attacks on India, without being deterred by “nuclear blackmail”.
The nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors fired missiles and drones targeting each other’s military installations after India said it struck “terrorist infrastructure” sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir on Wednesday in retaliation for an attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 men.
Pakistan said the targets were all civilian and denies Indian accusations that it was behind the Kashmir attack.
Source: Agencies
