18 Indian fishermen arrested in Pakistan

March 30, 2015 07:38 pm | Updated April 02, 2016 04:56 pm IST - Karachi

Pakistani authorities have arrested 18 Indian fishermen and seized their three boats for allegedly violating the country’s territorial waters.

The fishermen were arrested by Pakistan’s Maritime Security (PMS) forces last night in the Arabian Sea off the Karachi coast, Geo News reported.

No official of the PMS was available to confirm the arrests.

Normally Indian fishermen arrested by the PMS are handed over to the Docks police after initial interrogation and then they are produced before a judicial magistrate.

India and Pakistan routinely arrest fishermen on charges of entering each other’s waters as the maritime boundaries between the two countries were poorly defined and many fishing boats lack the technology to be certain of their precise location.

Many fishermen languish in jail for months even after completing their prison terms.

Governments of both countries have from time to time released these fishermen from their jails as a goodwill gesture.

In February, Pakistan released 172 Indian fishermen as a goodwill gesture after Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, informing him about Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.