(12 Sep 2005) SHOTLIST
**AUDIO QUALITY AS INCOMING**
1. Various of security and crowd at Wagah border crossing in Punjab, venue for prisoner exchange
2. Men waving Pakistani flags and dancing
3. Indian and Pakistani flags at border post
4. First Indian prisoner to cross border into India bending and touching forehead on ground as a mark of respect, getting up and folding hands in greeting
5. Relatives of Indian prisoners watching from afar
6. Various of Indian prisoners crossing over, being garlanded and greeted by officials
7. Various of released Indian prisoners sitting on pavement, waiting to be briefed by officials before they meet their families
8. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Wasim Shazad, Pakistani Interior Minister
"Today we have taken another big step forward on the path to peace. I believe, and my government believes, that such steps will help the people of both countries to come closer and bridge the divide."
9. Various of Pakistani prisoners waiting to cross over to Pakistan, old man waving
10. Top shot Wagah Border
11. Wide shot relatives of missing Indian soldiers holding banners and photographs
12. Mid shot women holding photograph of missing Indian soldier
13. Various of relatives of prisoners of war holding banners reading:"Are you any of these POWs (prisoners of war)?"
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Rajesh Kaura, Relative of missing Indian soldier
"It's now the duty of the governments of both sides that soldiers who have been caught across the border need to be repatriated back to their countries, especially when 30 years of their life has been wasted for no fault of their own. It's just that the two governments have not had the vision to see how to ensure that each and every(one) of these soldiers is brought back to their original countries."
15. Various of released Indian prisoners waving
16. Various of released Pakistani prisoners waving as they get ready to cross the border into Pakistan
STORYLINE
Hundreds of prisoners from India and Pakistan, mostly fishermen and farmers caught for illegal entry, were set free on Monday at the main border crossing between the two countries in the latest peace gesture between the South Asian rivals.
Amid tight security, border guards at the Wagah crossing released 435 Indian prisoners and 152 Pakistanis, many languishing for years in prisons, even after serving their sentences, due to the diplomatic hostility between the two countries.
It's the biggest single prisoner repatriation between the two countries since India and Pakistan began a sweeping process last year to ease almost six decades of hostility, marked by three wars.
The peace gesture comes ahead of the September 14 meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.
Hundreds of family members assembled at a meeting place near the "Zero Line" - the main border post between the two countries. Most of them were from the border states of Jammu-Kashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab.
In the last round of talks on August 30, home ministry officials from both countries agreed to release all civilian prisoners who had completed their sentences and whose nationality had been confirmed.
In past decades, hundreds of Pakistanis and Indians have been caught on the wrong side of the border and imprisoned on suspicion of spying.
Nearly all say they accidentally wandered across the poorly marked frontier.
Musharraf said on Friday that his country was prepared to be "unilaterally lenient" in such cases in the future.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
