By IRNA,
Islamabad : Pakistan will release 89 Indian prisoners this week amid resumption of official talks for the first time since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
The freed Indian nationals will be handed over to the Indian authorities at the Wahga border on April 15, a Foreign Ministry statement said.
“The Government of Pakistan has conveyed its decision to the Indian Government to release 89 Indian fishermen/prisoners included in the Indian list that was handed over to Pakistan during the Interior/Home Secretaries meeting in New Delhi,” it said.
“These Indian nationals will be handed over to the Indian side on 15 April 2011”.
The Indian side has handed over 39 Pakistani prisoners on 11 April from the list that Pakistan had given to India during the Interior/Home Secretaries meeting, the statement said.
Pakistan and India still hold hundreds of prisoners, mostly fishermen who are caught while entering territorial waters of other country.
The issue of prisoners was one of the major issues in the Interior Secretary-level talks held in New Delhi in late March, the first formal talks since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Commerce secretaries of the two countries are scheduled to meet in April to discuss promotion of bilateral trade, officials said.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani also visited India at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh to watch Cricket match between the rival teams.