INCREASING NUMBER BEHIND BARS OVERSEAS

7,737

77

83

63 INDIANS BROUGHT BACK FROM FOREIGN PRISONS

FOREIGN NATIONALS IN INDIAN JAILS

Pakistan released 26 Indian fishermen whom it had jailed for trespassing into its territorial waters as a goodwill gesture ahead of the swearing-in of new premier Imran Khan . The 26 freed prisoners represent 6% of the total number of Indians jailed in the neighbouring country. But Pakistan is not the only foreign nation where the most number of Indian nationals are in jail . The UAE is where most Indians are behind bars. A look at where the most number of Indians nationals are in jail...Total number of Indians jailed abroad from about 6,048 in 2017Countries where Indians are jailedIndian defence personnel are in Pakistan’s custody, although their presence has not been acknowledged so far by the neighbouring country.The issue of release and repatriation of missing defence personnel is taken up with Pakistan through diplomatic channels.After the enactment of the Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003, 170 applications for repatriation have been received and 63 Indian prisoners have been repatriated from foreign prisons. India has signed bilateral agreements with 30 countries. It has also acceded to the Inter American Convention, and can receive and send requests under it for repatriation. For the release of Indians national from imprisonment abroad, a whopping Rs 2.72 crore have already been spent from March 2015 to March 2018.West Bengal houses the highest number of foreign convicts,undertrials in its jails and accounts for 56% of their total numbers in India. As many as 39 Pakistani nationals who have completed their sentence are presently lodged in detention centres in India pending their nationality confirmation by Pakistan government, a necessary condition for repatriation.