As many as 20 Indian fishermen arrested by Pakistan, for allegedly coming into the nation’s territorial waters, were handed over to India at the Wagah border on Monday. The fishermen, kept in Karachi’s Landhi Jail, were released on completion of their sentence on Sunday.
A spokesperson of the Edhi Foundation, a non-profit social welfare organization, mentioned that they would bear fishermen’s traveling value to Lahore, the place they’d be handed over to India’s Border Security Force. The Edhi Foundation additionally paid Rs 5,000 to every fisherman as a goodwill gesture.
However, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Azeem Thebo mentioned that with the discharge of those 20 Indian fishermen as a goodwill gesture, there are actually 568 Indian fishermen left within the jail.
Pakistan and India regularly arrest rival fishermen for violating the maritime boundary which is poorly marked at some points.
According to the lists of prisoners exchanged by India and Pakistan at the beginning of this year, at least 628 Indian prisoners were held in Pakistan, including 51 civilians and 577 fishermen. The Indian Government list included 355 Pakistani prisoners in India, including 282 civilians and 73 fishermen.
The Pakistan Fishermen Forum NGO mentioned that as a result of the absence of a transparent demarcation line within the coastal space of the Arabian Sea between the two nations. Fishermen, who don’t possess the modern-day navigation gear, mistakenly cross the pink strains and find themselves in jails.
