Likely Thaw? India Releases 11 Pakistani Prisoners, Expects Same Response

India released 11 civilian Pakistani prisoners who had completed their sentence on Monday. The prisoners went to Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border point.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — The release of Pakistani prisoners comes days after the meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.

India repatriate 11 Pakistani prisoners via Wagah Border, today pic.twitter.com/D2eiq1TiHK

— ANI (@ANI_news) June 12, 2017

​Earlier last week, India had also released two children who had inadvertently crossed the Line of Control, the de facto border between India and Pakistan, and landed in Punjab. Similarly, in March this year, India released 39 Pakistani prisoners as a goodwill gesture after Pakistan released 218 Indian prisoners lodged in different prisons in Pakistan.

India is optimistic that Pakistan will also release Indian prisoners in response. According to New Delhi, there are 132 Indian prisoners lodged in various prisons in Pakistan. Up to 57 of those Indian nationals have completed their sentence already.

The move is likely to thaw relations between the two neighboring countries which have been on a warpath ever since the escalation of violence in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The relations between India and Pakistan is far from good after increasing incidents of cross-firing along the border, both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire agreement along the border.