Pakistan releases another 100 Indian fishermen as goodwill gesture

KARACHI: Pakistan on Sunday released another one hundred Indian fishermen from Malir Jail Karachi as a goodwill gesture, Radio Pakistan reported.

The fishermen were arrested for fishing illegally in Pakistani waters during various operations.

The fishermen will be taken to Lahore through train where they would be handed over to the Indian authorities at Wagah Border on Monday (tomorrow).

Earlier on Monday, Pakistan decided to release 100 fishermen who were arrested by the PMSA over violating Pakistani waters.

The government had earlier decided to release overall 360 Indian prisoners in April. After the first batch of 100 prisoners, remaining 260 fishermen will be released in phases.

The Foreign Office in Islamabad had announced to release 360 Indian prisoners this month.

The released Indian fishermen were taken to the Karachi Cantonment Railway Station, where they boarded the Allama Iqbal Express for Lahore.

According to the lists exchanged by both sides in January, there are 347 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails, 249 of whom are what the spokesman described as civilians and 98 fishermen.

There are 537 Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails, 483 of whom are fishermen. “We hope that India will reciprocate this gesture,” the foreign office spokesman had said in his statement.