Pakistan and India exchanged two border security personnel Wednesday, officials said, marking another step toward easing tensions following a cease-fire that halted four days of cross-border hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
Indian authorities handed over Muhammadullah of the Pakistan Rangers to Pakistani officials at the Wagah-Attari border, state-run PTV News reported, citing security sources.
While Pakistan returned an Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) trooper who had allegedly crossed into Pakistani territory last month, officials said.
The BSF trooper, identified as Purnam Kumar Shaw, who had been in the custody of Pakistan Rangers since April 23, was handed over to India on Wednesday through the joint check post Attari, Amritsar, in northern India, said an official statement released by New Delhi.
"The handover was conducted peacefully and in accordance with established protocols,” it said.
The release of the Indian and Pakistani security personnel comes after tensions rocketed between India and Pakistan, including an exchange of missiles and drones last week, following an attack by unidentified gunmen that left 26 people dead, mostly Indian tourists, on April 22 in India-ruled Kashmir.
The hostilities ended after the U.S. mediated a cease-fire between the two South Asian neighbors last weekend.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army announced Wednesday that two of its military personnel who were injured during last week's hostilities with India succumbed to their injuries, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 53, including 40 civilians and five Pakistan Air Force personnel. It also reported that 199 Pakistani civilians and 78 of its soldiers were injured.
The Indian side has also confirmed five military personnel casualties.
The hostilities escalated when India launched Operation Sindoor, firing missiles into Pakistan and Pakistan-ruled Kashmir on the intervening night of May 6 and 7, hitting what New Delhi said were "nine terror locations."
Pakistan responded on Saturday under the "banner of Marka-e-Haq," firing Al-Fatah missiles as part of Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, or "Iron Wall," hitting 26 Indian military targets and air force bases in Jammu and Kashmir as well as India.
The rival militaries also engaged in heavy firefights, resulting in many deaths on both sides of the Line of Control (LOC), a de facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir Valley between the two neighbors.
