ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has repatriated 20 Indian fishermen, who were arrested for entering the country’s territorial waters, to India, the Pakistani foreign office said on Tuesday.
Pakistani and Indian maritime agencies frequently arrest fisherfolk on charges of illegally entering each other’s territorial waters for fishing.
These 20 fishermen, kept in Karachi’s Landhi Jail, were released on Sunday and handed over to Indian officials at the Wagah border crossing the next day.
“These prisoners have been released on completion of their sentences,” the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement. “The issue of prisoners is of humanitarian nature and Pakistan expects the government of India to reciprocate the gesture in the same spirit.”
According to the provisions of the 2008 Consular Access Agreement between Pakistan and India, both countries are required to exchange lists of prisoners in each other’s custody every year on January 1 and July 1.
A list of prisoners shared by Islamabad on January 1 this year suggested that at least 628 Indian prisoners were held in Pakistan, including 577 fishermen and 51 civilians, according to the Pakistani foreign office.
The Indian government also simultaneously shared a list of 355 Pakistani prisoners in India, including 282 civilians and 73 fishermen, with the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi.
Islamabad repatriates 20 Indian fishermen arrested for entering Pakistani waters
https://arab.news/ncgfs
Islamabad repatriates 20 Indian fishermen arrested for entering Pakistani waters
- Pakistan says expects New Delhi to ‘reciprocate the gesture in the same spirit’
- Pakistani, Indian authorities frequently arrest fisherfolk over territorial violations
Pakistan’s PIA to resume London flights from Mar. 29 after six-year gap
- Newly privatized airline says will operate four weekly flights from Islamabad to London
- PIA is already operating three fllights per week to British city Manchester, says airline
ISLAMABAD: The newly privatized Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will operate direct flights to London starting Mar. 29, 2026, after six years, its spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.
The PIA resumed its flight operations to the UK in October this year with its inaugural flight to Manchester. The airline is currently operating three weekly flights to the British city.
Britain lifted restrictions on Pakistani carriers in July, nearly half a decade after grounding them following a 2020 PIA Airbus A320 crash in Karachi that killed 97 people. The disaster was followed by claims of irregularities in pilot licensing, which led to bans in the US, UK and the European Union.
“Pakistan International Airlines has announced the expansion of its operations in the United Kingdom with the resumption of flights to London,” the airline’s spokesperson said in a statement.
“Starting Mar. 29, PIA will operate four weekly flights from Islamabad to London.”
The airline said that the London flights will be operated from Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 4, which it said is recognized as one of its most modern terminals.
“London was PIA’s very first international destination and remains one of its most important and attractive routes,” the spokesperson said.
Pakistan’s government succeeded in its frequent efforts to privatize the airline this month after a consortium, led by Arif Habib Group, on Dec. 23 secured a 75 percent stake in PIA for Rs135 billion ($482 million) after several rounds of bidding, valuing the airline at Rs180 billion ($643 million).
The sale marked Pakistan’s most aggressive attempt in decades to reform the debt-ridden national airline, which had accumulated more than $2.8 billion in financial losses. The government said it would end decades of state-funded bailouts and help revive the airline.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News this week, the airline’s new owner Arif Habib said he plans to renovate PIA planes, improve maintenance and flight schedule, and bring in new aircraft to revive the carrier.
Habib said he sees the region comprising the UK, the US and Canada as a “lucrative market” for the airline’s business.
“There we can increase the frequency of the flight,” he said. “We will also try to run flights to Canada from Karachi, Lahore, and I think it’s already in Islamabad.”
