Pakistani police have been pounding the beat with officers from Bradford during a week-long stay to cement international links.

Senior Superintendent Sabir Hussain and Inspector Mohammad Khan, based in Azad Kashmir, are guests of West Yorkshire Police Force in a visit arranged by Community and Race Relations Officer, Inspector Martin Baines.

He travelled to the rural district of Mirpur in February and learned at first hand the already strong links the area enjoys with Bradford.

Training is high on the agenda with officers on both sides keen to learn how the others work - both technically and culturally.

During their week the pair have experienced baton training, visited the force training school in Wakefield and seen a major incident room at work as well as walk the streets with officers.

Inspector Baines said: "This is a key visit because Senior Superintendent Sabir is the officer who we met in Mirpur and we have had quite serious discussions about working together.

"The purpose of this visit is to move forward now with those discussions and put some of the proposals into place."

Detective Superintendent Stu-art Hyde is working on internet links with stations in Azad Kashmir to exchange information about training, travelling criminals and shared problems.

"It will give us a better understanding of some of the problems we face here," he said.

Working methods are very different in Azad Kashmir, where all reported crimes are still logged with pen and paper.

In the coming months, an exchange system will begin where Kashmiri officers will spend time here and Bradford's will go there.

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