Pakistan releases Indian 'deserter'

Pakistan says it has released an Indian soldier who had been strayed onto its soil in the contested Kashmir region, handing him over to Indian authorities.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry made the announcement in a statement on Saturday, saying that the soldier, identified as Chandu Babulal Chohan, had been handed over at Wagah border crossing based on "humanitarian grounds and the commitment to ensure peace and tranquility at the LoC and the Working Boundary."

Wagah border crossing is located about 24 kilometers from the city of Lahore, in Pakistan's western province of Punjab, and about 32 kilometers from Amritsar, a city in India's Punjab province.

The Line of Control (LoC) is a heavily fortified borderline between the two arch-rival neighbors, separating the Pakistani-administered Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan in the west and northwest, respectively, from India's province of Jammu and Kashmir in the north.

The LoC, which dates back to over four decades ago, is not an internationally recognized demarcation line but serves as the de facto border between the two countries in the region.

The Working Boundary separates Pakistan's Punjab province from Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Chohan, according to the statement, abandoned his check-post on September 29, 2016, the day New Delhi claimed that it had carried out "surgical strikes" against militants across the LoC. The Pakistani military, however, rejected such claims at the time.

On Thursday, some unnamed senior Indian defense officials told IHS Jane's Defense Weekly that India was planning to deploy over 460 main battle tanks (MBTs) along its western and northern borders with Pakistan, a move that could be viewed by Islamabad as provocative.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained in recent months, with New Delhi blaming Islamabad for a raid on an army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir in September, which killed 19 soldiers. The Indian army blamed Pakistan-based militants for the assault. Islamabad denies any role in the attack.

Diplomatic tensions also heightened between the two sides in late October 2016, when India ordered one employee of the Pakistani High Commission out of the country, saying he was a suspected spy. Islamabad expelled an Indian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move.

The restive Muslim-majority region of Kashmir has also witnessed an increase in mass protests and violent attacks since early July last year, when a top pro-independence figure was killed in a shootout with Indian troops.

Tens of thousands of Indian troops have been deployed to the region and dozens of people have lost their lives in the ensuing crackdown. The crackdown, however, has failed to halt the protests.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk