Date:08/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/08/stories/2008070857140100.htm

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India-Sri Lanka pact on prisoner swap soon

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: India and Sri Lanka are in the process of finalising a bilateral agreement on exchange of prisoners of both countries. The envisaged pact is on the same lines as the India-Pakistan agreement on exchange of prisoners.

A senior official in the Indian High Commission said the draft of the proposed agreement was in the final stages and it was up to the two governments to decide.

The official said the proposed agreement would benefit 43 Indians languishing in Sri Lanka jails. Most of them have been convicted on charges of drug trafficking and under the Sri Lankan laws, they face life imprisonment.