Nuclear installations: India, Pakistan exchange lists

New Delhi: For the 26th consecutive year, India and Pakistan on Sunday exchanged a list of their nuclear installations under a bilateral agreement that prohibits them from attacking each other’s atomic facilities.

“India and Pakistan on Sunday exchanged, through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad, the list of nuclear installations and facilities covered under the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations between India and Pakistan,” the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said.

The agreement, which was signed on December 31, 1988, and entered into force on January 27, 1991, says the two countries inform each other of nuclear installations and facilities to be covered under the agreement on January 1 of every calendar year.

This is the 26th consecutive exchange of such list between the India and Pakistan, the first one having taken place on January 1, 1992.

The two countries also exchanged, through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad, the lists of nationals, including civil prisoners and fishermen of each country lodged in their respective jails as per provisions of the Agreement on Consular Access, the the ministry of external affairs said.

The agreement on consular access, signed between the two countries on May 21, 2008, provides for exchanging a comprehensive list of nationals of each country lodged in their jails twice each year — on January 1 and July 1.