Pakistan claims to arrest 2 Indians who crossed border in 2017, India demands consular access

New Delhi: India has asked Islamabad to provide consular access to two Indians--Prasanth Vaindan from Hyderabad and Wari Lal from Madhya Pardesh who Pakistan claims to have arrested Bahawalpur on Monday.

WION has learnt from informed sources, that the two Indians had inadvertently crossed into Pakistan way back in 2017 but what is perplexing is the manner in which information came through the media from the other side on Monday. 

India through diplomatic channels, in the case of Prasanth Vaindan, last raised the matter in May 2019 and in Bari Lal's case raised the matter in December 2018 with Pakistan and had sought consular access both times but got no response.

There are other cases of the inadvertent crossing as well that has happened in the past, and India has also asked consular access and early repatriation of those Indians.

India in December 2018, had repatriated two Pakistani nationals -Imran Warsi and Abdullah Shah —to Pakistan after Islamabad released Indian national Hamid Nehal Ansari who was in a Pakistan jail for six years.

Imran Warsi, a Karachi resident was in an Indian jail for 10 years on charges of keeping a fake passport. He had come to India on a valid visa in 2004 and fell in love with an Indian girl and overstayed. Abdullah Shah, a resident of Swat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province had crossed over to India in 2017 to meet Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan. Abdullah was autistic.