Pakistan on Thursday set free 89 Indian fishermen as part of a process initiated by the two countries to speed up the release of people held in each other's prisons for inadvertently crossing land and maritime boundaries.
The freed Indians are on their way to the border city of Lahore from where they would head home to India.
The Superintendent of jail in Malir, Ghulam Qadir, said that the 89 fishermen were released and sent by two buses to Lahore from where they would be handed over to the Indian authorities at the Wagah border crossing.
The fishermen were released just two weeks after the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan met in Mohali on the sidelines of the World Cup cricket semi-final between the two countries.
Their release was a follow-up to a meeting of the Interior and Home Secretaries of India and Pakistan in New Delhi last month. Both countries exchanged lists of prisoners during the meeting.
“The prisoners were released today and given some personal belongings, gifts and money to help them in their journey,” Mr. Qadir said.
He said the fishermen were arrested in the waters of Pakistan for violating the maritime agreement between the countries.
Mr. Qadir said hopefully the Indian fishermen would cross the Wagah border on Friday.
Nasir Aslam Zahid, Chairman of the NGO Prisoners Welfare and Legal Aid Committee, told journalists that Pakistani authorities granted consular access to another 33 Indian prisoners being held in the Malir Jail.
They too would be released in the near future after the completion of certain formalities, he said.
“It is our endeavour to remove hurdles and delays in the release of detained fishermen on both sides of the border,” Mr. Zahid said.
On April 11, India released 39 Pakistani prisoners. The two countries are scheduled to exchange complete lists of prisoners on July 1 under an agreement signed in May 2008. The process of releasing prisoners, which suffered a setback in the wake of the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, has picked up pace after the two countries recently agreed to resume their stalled peace process.
