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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Swap of a few real spies |
| 2005-08-28 |
| Here's the inside story that New Delhi and Islamabad will never reveal. Spymasters in both India and Pakistan appear to have decided the campaign to free Sarabjit Singh is the perfect cover for a swap of a few real spies who had been caught on the wrong side of the border. Off the record, intelligence sources maintain that Sarabjit Singh, who is on death row in Pakistan after having been convicted for espionage, is not an agent. "Not even a recruit," they say. This trade-off won't be done with much fanfare. Neither side is certain yet, whether to pass it off as a Track II exercise or just do it quietly. The swap might be hidden in some future list of "civilians who erroneously strayed across the border" since better bilateral relations have made the release of "innocents" much easier. Details, modalities and a time-frame are being worked out. There are about 12-18 real operatives in ISI custody who New Delhi wants back. Though none of them are likely to ever be used for active duty, the top brass believe that many have contributed enough to deserve to be bailed out. It's the same in Islamabad. "We have some people they want back. The numbers are broadly the same if you don't count those who have come in for militancy," officials here say, adding that Sarabjit is a perfect human face to the exercise as "he is genuinely a civilian". This makes it easy for New Delhi to plead his case, and for Islamabad to be "generous". It also sets a precedent for "a few more" similar cases to be pursued later, though on a much lower key. Officially, India has offered to release all Pakistani prisoners whose nationality has been verified by Islamabad. Out of a total 611 suspected Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails, the nationalities of 177 have been verified by the Pakistan foreign office. This, however, was a process that began long before Sarabjit made headlines, and, assert officials, has no connection to the Sarabjit case. Sarabjit was drunk when he strayed into Pakistan in 1990. |
| Posted by:john |