India and UAE to sign prisoner deal

ABU DHABI //A prisoner-exchange deal between India and the UAE will be formally signed today, according to the Indian Ambassador.

The agreement will pave the way for prisoners to serve the remainder of their jail terms in their home country.

MK Lokesh said the agreement would be signed in New Delhi by Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, the Minister of Interior who is in India on a two-day visit, and the Indian home minister P Chidambaram.

Mr Lokesh said there were 1,200 Indian prisoners serving sentences in UAE jails.

There is only one Emirati jailed in India.

He said inmates would be transferred to a common central jail or to prisons in their native state.

Mr Lokesh said the agreement would apply to those already convicted, not those on trial.

"There should not be any ongoing proceedings for the prisoners who wish to go back and complete a sentence," he said.

"The agreement will come into effect once the internal procedures are completed. It will not take a long time."

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