KARACHI, 25 DEC (DNA) – As a goodwill gesture, Pakistani authorities released 220 Indian fishermen in the first batch on Sunday. The second batch of 219 fishermen will be released on January 5, 2017.

According to official sources, the freed Indian fishermen were sent to Karachi’s Cantt Railway Station from Malir District Jail. The fishermen were arrested for violating territorial waters of Pakistan in the Arabian Sea. They will be handed over to the Indian authorities at Wagah Border in Lahore.

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.

Both countries frequently arrest fishermen from the other country for the alleged violation of territorial waters in the Arabian Sea. DNA