ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will release 200 Indian fishermen and three civilian prisoners on Friday as a humanitarian gesture, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has announced.
Last month, Pakistani authorities released 198 Indian fishermen who were arrested after allegedly fishing illegally in the country's waters.
They were released from Karachi's Malir Jail and handed over to India at the Wagah border.
"This is in line with Pakistan's policy of not politicising humanitarian matters. Compassion should take precedence over politics," Zardari said in a tweet today.
The Dawn reported that the third batch of about 100 Indian fishermen is said to be released on July 2.
According to a press release by Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Ministry, as part of the 2008 Agreement on Consular Access, there are 705 Indian or believed-to-be Indian nationals in the country on January 1, 2023. Of these, 654 are fishermen.
Pakistan and India regularly arrest rival fishermen for violating the International Maritime Demarcation Line (IMDL), which is poorly marked at some points and contested between the two nations.
(With Online desk inputs)