Pakistan Frees Indian Border Guard Held in Kashmir
Pakistani officials on Friday released an Indian border guard arrested for allegedly violating their de-facto border in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir, officials said.
The guard, whom officials named as Satyasheel Yadav, was swept onto the Pakistani side of the River Chenab after a patrol boat he was in capsized on Wednesday, according to a senior official from the paramilitary rangers.
"He has been handed over to Indian authorities after routine interrogation," the official added.
The handover took place at the border near Sialkot city, 112 kilometers (69 miles) northeast of Lahore.
It came a day after Indian foreign ministry officials met Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner in New Delhi to discuss the issue.
Yadav was patrolling in a boat with another border official, which later capsized. He told Pakistani authorities while the other official swam back, he could not make it.
"They made me comfortable. I was given food. I have no complaints. I am very happy I am going home,"the guard told the press before his release, according to India's NDTV.
In a separate incident, Indian troops arrested a Pakistani villager who was cutting fodder for his animals in a forest near the Line of Control, officials said Friday.
Sub-inspector Malik Rashid, head of a local police station, said the incident occurred Wednesday in the village of Darra Sher Khan in Poonch 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir.
The two countries have fought two of their three wars as well as a smaller conflict over the territory, one of the most militarized zones in the world.
About a dozen rebel groups have been fighting Indian forces in the Muslim-majority region since 1989 for Kashmir to be made independent or incorporated into Pakistan.
Source: Agence France Presse
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