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India Reunites 5-Year-Old Pakistani Boy With Mother At Wagah Border

In March 2016, Iftikhar was taken to India by his father, who is from Jammu.
ANI/ Twitter

LAHORE -- A five-year-old Pakistani boy, who was taken to India on the sly by his father a year ago, was on Saturday reunited with his mother in Pakistan at the Wagah border after the Indian authorities handed him over.

The boy, Iftikhar Ahmed, was handed over to Pakistan Rangers at Wagah where his mother was waiting for him for several hours.

Pakistani High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, appreciated the cooperative role of Indian authorities in the matter, news agency ANI reported.

"I am extremely happy to have my son back. I am thankful to the Pakistani government for its help for return of my child," Iftikhar's mother Rohina Kiyani told reporters at Wagah.

"I had lost all hope of getting my child back. It's not a less than a miracle for me," she said.

In March 2016, Iftikhar was taken to India by his father, who is from Jammu. The boy's mother alleged that her former husband had lied to her that he was taking the child to a wedding along with him as he took him to Dubai and from there to Kashmir.

Rohina with the help of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi filed a case in an Indian court that ruled in May 2016 in her favour.

After the case was taken up by the Pakistani high commission and proven that Iftikhar was a Pakistani by nationality, the verdict was given that he be returned to his mother in Pakistan.

Due to border tensions, it took eight months for the mother to get the good news of seeing her son.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.