India, Pak share nuclear site details

Also exchange prisoners' list in continuation of decades-old practice for building confidence

- JAYANTH JACOB @ New Delhi

INDIA and Pakistan on Thursday exchanged lists of nuclear installations and facilities that cannot be targeted in the event of hostilities, along with details of prisoners held in each other's custody, maintaining a decades-old confidence-building mechanism despite severely strained bilateral relations.

The exchange of nuclear no-attack lists was carried out simultaneously through diplomatic channels in New Delhi and Islamabad, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. The annual exercise is mandated under the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities, signed in December 1988 and in force since January 1991. Under the pact, both sides share details of nuclear facilities covered by the agreement on January 1 every year.