By Aslam Chandio, TwoCircles.net,
Islamabad: India on Friday released 37 Pakistan prisoners, out of which 32 are fishermen and five of them are civilians, Spokesperson of the Foreign office, Tasneem Aslam said in a statement.
The FO Spokesperson said, “There are 484 Pakistani prisoners (348 civil and 136 fishermen) still remain lodged in Indian jails. Out of these, 25 civil prisoners have completed their sentence and await repatriation.”
The move by India comes after bilateral talks between Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
“Pakistan has always held that the issue of prisoners in our respective countries is a humanitarian one and should be taken in that spirit. It is our hope that the Government of India would release all Pakistani prisoners who have completed their sentences,” the FO Spokesperson remarked.
Earlier on May 26, Pakistan’s PM Nawaz Sharif had issued directives to release 151 Indian prisoners (150 fishermen and 1 civilian) as a goodwill gesture a day ahead of Nawaz Sharif’s visit to New Delhi. 59 fishermen were released from the Malir jail in Karachi and another 92 from the Nara jail of Hyderabad in Sindh province. They had been arrested for fishing in Pakistan’s territorial waters.
(Aslam Chandio is an Islamabad based journalist. He tweets at @aslamchandio_ )