Islamabad repatriates 20 Indian fishermen arrested for entering Pakistani waters

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.