India and Pakistan exchange captured soldiers after ceasefire deal

India and Pakistan exchanged a prisoner each on Wednesday, days after the South Asian nuclear powers walked away from the brink of war.

Pakistan returned a Border Security Force personnel who had inadvertently gone over the border in northern Punjab state last month.

Constable Purnam Kumar Shaw was returned after three weeks in Pakistani custody. He had been detained for crossing into Pakistani territory while on operational duty in the Ferozepur area on 23 April, the BSF said.

His “repatriation” became possible due to the “consistent efforts of BSF through regular flag meetings with Pakistan Rangers and through other communication channels".

The BSF said the constable from West Bengal state was handed over at around 10.30am local time at the joint check post on the Attari border near Amritsar. The "handover was conducted peacefully and in accordance with established protocols”.

The constable’s family said his return was a "great relief". "The past two weeks have been filled with sleepless nights and uncertainty for us. We were worried about his well-being," a member of his family was quoted as saying by India Today.

In exchange for the constable, India returned Muhammadullah of Punjab Rangers who had reportedly crossed into India on 3 May.

For four days last week, India and Pakistan engaged in the most intense fighting in decades that killed at least 75 people before a ceasefire was reached over the weekend.

The conflict ensued after India, in an overnight attack last Wednesday, struck nine alleged militant hideouts in Pakistan. The airstrikes, dubbed "Operation Sindoor", were conducted in retaliation for the killing of 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists, in a terror attack in Kashmir on 22 April.

New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing the gunmen who carried out the massacre. Islamabad denied the charge and sought an independent investigation.

In the wake of the attack, the two countries expelled each other’s diplomats, suspended visas and closed airspaces and land borders. India also suspended a crucial treaty on river water sharing.

The Indian strikes escalated the tensions into a military conflict as the two sides exchanged heavy fire along their de facto border in the restive Kashmir region as well as missile and drone strikes on military installations.

The Indian military claimed to have killed nearly 100 militants with its overnight strikes and 35-40 personnel of Pakistan’s armed forces in subsequent action along the de facto border.

The Pakistani army said on Tuesday that the clash with India had left 11 soldiers and 40 civilians dead. A Pakistani minister last week claimed their armed forces had killed 40-50 Indian soldiers.

Both India and Pakistan claimed to have downed each other’s fighter jets in a dogfight that reportedly involved over 125 aircraft, making it the largest aerial battle since the Second World War.

Both nations also claimed victory in the overall fighting, which was halted after US president Donald Trump announced a ceasefire on Saturday afternoon.