Jawans still stuck as India, Pak spar over norms of handover

NEW DELHI, SEPT 14: Pakistan today attempted to score propaganda points over the handing over of two Indian soldiers to the International...

NEW DELHI, SEPT 14: Pakistan today attempted to score propaganda points over the handing over of two Indian soldiers to the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC in Islamabad, insisting that the event be recorded in the full glare of international publicity.

New Delhi, claiming that the 8220;dignity of the soldiers8221; was not being maintained, accused Islamabad of making a 8220;public spectacle8221; of them. Consequently, the ICRC was informed that India would not accept them under these 8220;demeaning circumstances.8221;

As the two soldiers, Lance Naik Ram Singh and Sepoy Bajinder Singh, waited for India and Pakistan to end the bitter bilateral wrangling over their freedom, the ICRC here in Delhi said it hoped 8220;the humanitarian dimension of the problem would not be forgotten.8221;

In Islamabad, the Pakistani foreign office, after receiving the green signal from India yesterday that New Delhi had agreed to the handing over of the two soldiers through the ICRC, assembled the foreign and domestic media at itsforeign office this afternoon for the event.

The intention, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Tariq Altaf said, was to show the world that they were 8220;safe and sound.8221; When New Delhi8217;s objection to the modalities were made public, Altaf told the media, 8220;The ICRC is now not ready to receive them the soldiers in your presence.8221;

A spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs here pointed out that when eight Pakistani prisoners of war were handed over to Pakistan, via the ICRC, at the end of August, 8220;we had ensured that they were handed over to the ICRC with dignity. This was in accordance with military etiquette, tradition and custom, and international norms,8221; he said.

Ministry officials pointed out that 8220;there were no journalists present8221; when the POWs were given back. The Pakistanis were driven straight to the Pakistani High Commission here, the officials said, and within the hour they were on the plane to Pakistan.

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The sense here is that Islamabad is now seeking to take advantage of NewDelhi8217;s decision yesterday, which, allowing for 8220;humanitarian considerations8221; reversed its earlier position and accepted that the soldiers be sent home through the ICRC.

Earlier, New Delhi had been insisting that the soldiers be sent home on the direct India-Pakistan military channel, through the Directors-General of Military Operations.

Thus, even as everything was set for the handover in Islamabad, New Delhi realised that Pakistan was not giving the same treatment to its soldiers as it had given the Pakistani POWs.

Dismayed by Pakistan8217;s attempt to use the two soldiers as a 8220;pawn8221; in the bilateral relationship, the ICRC was called and told that New Delhi would under no condition accept such a spectacle.

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Asked about ICRC8217;s role in the matter, ICRC spokesperson Savita Varde-Naqvi told The Indian Express that while the ICRC could take a 8220;humanitarian initiative and propose its services, its services have to be accepted by all parties concerned. The ICRC is thinking of the families of thesoldiers, waiting for the release of their dear ones. The ICRC feels concerned on humanitarian grounds. The humanitarian dimension of the problem should not be forgotten,8221; she said.

Since the Indian and Pakistani governments disagreed on the modalities of the handover, it could not take place today, she added. But the Ministry spokesman said New Delhi was in touch with the ICRC and was waiting to hear from them.