Chandigarh: India and Pakistan today decided to work out mechanisms to expedite repatriation of inadvertent border crossers. Efforts would be made to return inadvertent crossers immediately, ideally within 24 hours, to mitigate suffering of the families, said BSF's Additional Director General (West) G S Gill while addressing a joint press conference with Major General Muhammad Haroon Aslam, Director General Rangers, (Punjab in Pakistan) at the end of the four-day meeting between the two sides.

Local commanders will be encouraged to mutually resolve minor issues related to border management. Aslam said that Pakistan has as of now 42 inadvertent crossers including those from India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, while Gill said the Indian side has sent back 41 such crossers to Pakistan.

He said the two sides have agreed to "expedite repatriation of inadvertent border crossers to minimise the miseries of the families of those prisoners who continue to remain in jails of India and Pakistan due to lengthy and complicated repatriation procedures."

Gill said both forces agreed to improve awareness among border population to understand the alignment of International Boundary and to uphold its sanctity to avoid inadvertent crossings.

Source : PTI