Pakistan releases 100 Indian fishermen as a goodwill gesture: Foreign Office

Pakistan has freed 100 Indian fishermen (the first batch of 360 Indian prisoners) as a goodwill gestureto de-escalation tension between the two countries.

Another 100 will be released on April 22, he said. The last batch of 60 prisoners, comprising five fishermen and 55 others, will be allowed to cross the Wagha Border on April 29, Dr Faisal of foreign office said.

The sources in Karachi prison said, “the prison office received order to release 100 Indian prisoners on Sunday. “All the 100 prisoners would be taken to Lahore by train under police guard,” the sources claimed.

These prisoners, including 17 Muslims, were detained at the District Jail, Malir. There are over 400 others detained at the Malir prison. A train carrying them left Karachi at 3pm for Lahore. They will be handed to the Indian authorities via the Wagha Border crossing on Monday, he said.

“Pakistan set us free. We are happy,” an Indian fisherman told private TV channel. “We want India to reciprocate Pakistan’s move.” These fishermen had been in captivity for almost two years.

Edhi Foundation is taking care of the fishermen’s travel expenditures. Poor fishermen make mistakes while striving to earn their livelihood, an Edhi official said. “We need to take steps for their early release.”

They were detained by the Pakistani Coastguard for illegally fishing in the country’s territorial waters in the Arabian Sea. The remaining 260 Indian prisoners will be released in phases this month, said the foreign ministry. On Friday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said there are 537 Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails.

“Of them, 483 are fishermen and 54 are others,” he said at a weekly news briefing in Islamabad. “The first 100 fishermen will be released on Monday and the second batch of 100 fishermen on April 15.”

Dr Faisal added that 347 Pakistani prisoners, 98 fishermen and 249 others, are incarcerated in Indian jails. We hope India will reciprocate our goodwill gesture, he said.

Last month, India handed over the bodies of two Pakistanis who died in their jails. Shakirullah was stoned to death inside an Indian jail in Rajasthan in February while Noorul Amin was tortured to death days before his release on March 29. His body was received last week by his family.

Earlier on Sunday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said India is planning another attack on Pakistan. “Indian may launch attack any day between April 16 and April 20,” said the minister while talking to media in Multan.

“If God forbid this happens, the foreign office has decided to invite the ambassadors of the P-5 countries to Islamabad and tell them our concerns.”

 

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