As a goodwill gesture, the Pakistan government on Sunday released 220 Indian fishermen who were held for allegedly violating territorial waters and fishing, a few hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on his birthday. The same number of Indian fishermen remain in Pakistani custody; however, Pakistan's Dunya TV said the second batch of fishermen could be released on January 5, 2017. Last week, the Pakistan fishermen forum claimed that Indian maritime authorities had picked up dozens of Pakistani fishermen from inside Pakistan’s territorial waters near the Gujarat coastline and taken them away, though the government has not responded to the claim so far. The released fishermen would board the train to Lahore from where they will head to Wagah, following which they will cross the border on Monday afternoon. A spokesperson of the Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), an NGO striving for the Indo-Pak amity, had earlier stated that after this goodwill gesture from the Pakistani side, India should also reciprocate the gesture by releasing Pakistani fishermen lodged in Indian prisons.
Pakistan releases Indian fishermen caught in its territory as a gesture of goodwill.