Pakistan to release 360 Indian prisoners this month as 'goodwill gesture'; first phase of release to start on Monday

360 Indian prisoners which include mostly fishermen, will be released in four phases over the month of April, with the process starting on April 08.

Pak Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal Image: ANI

New Delhi: Pakistan has decided to release 360 Indian prisoners on “humanitarian basis” upon completion of their sentences from next Monday, Radio Pakistan reported on Friday. As per the reports, the 360 Indian prisoners which include mostly fishermen, will be released in four phases over the month of April, with the process starting on April 08. The Pakistan Foreign Office said the act is being done as a “goodwill gesture”, adding that it hoped reciprocation from India, the Dawn reported. This comes amidst tensions between the two countries after the Pulwama terror attack. Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said the process of releasing the Indian fishermen will start on April 8 when 100 prisoners will be released. In the second phase on April 5, another 100 will be released. In the third phase on April 22, another 100 will be released and in the fourth and last phase on April 29, the remaining 60 prisoners will be released. Faisal said currently there are 347 Pakistani prisoners in India and 537 Indian prisoners in Pakistan. "Pakistan will release 360 Indian prisoners, of which 355 are fishermen and 5 are civilians," he said. The fishermen will be taken from Karachi to Lahore and handed over to Indian officials at the Wagah border. Anwar Kazmi, a spokesman of Edhi welfare organisation, which helps the released fishermen with clothes and food, told PTI from Karachi that the process of releasing the fishermen will start from Sunday. First a group of 100 fishermen will be taken from Karachi to Lahore on Allama Iqbal Express on Sunday," he said. They are likely to be handed over to India on Monday at Wagah. They spent months and sometimes years before repatriated. Pakistan and India frequently arrest fishermen as there is no clear demarcation of the maritime border in the Arabian Sea and these fishermen do not have boats equipped with the technology to know their precise location. Owing to lengthy and slow bureaucratic and legal procedures, the fishermen usually remain in jail for several months and sometimes years. (inputs from PTI)