Pakistan to release 291 Indian fishermen on humanitarian grounds

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today said it will release 291 Indian fishermen on humanitarian grounds in two phases starting from next week.

"Pakistan has decided to release and repatriate 291 Indian fishermen in two phases on December 29, 2017 and January 08, 2018 via Wagah Border as a goodwill gesture on humanitarian grounds," Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal said.

Pakistan had released 68 Indian fishermen in October.

Faisal said Pakistan has always maintained that humanitarian issues should be facilitated and not politicized.

A spokesman for Pakistan's Maritime Security Force (PMSF) last week said that the authorities have arrested 400 Indian fishermen this year.

Fishermen from Pakistan and India are frequently detained for illegally fishing in each other's territorial waters since the Arabian Sea does not have a clearly defined marine border and the wooden boats lack the technology to avoid being drifting away.