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India releases 148 Pak fishermen ahead of bilateral talks

In an effort to create a congenial atmosphere for the Indo-Pak talks beginning in New Delhi later this week, India today announced that it was releasing all 148 Pakistani fishermen languishing in Indian jails.

''We feel that innocent fishermen should not remain in jails,'' an external affairs ministry spokesman said.

As many as 39 of these fishermen were captured by the Indian authorities on October 24, he added.

The announcement by India came three days before India and Pakistan resume their official level dialogue, from November 5 to 13 on six issues, namely, Tulbul navigation project, Siachen, Sir Creek, economic and commercial cooperation, terrorism and drug trafficking and promotion of friendly exchanges in various fields.

The spokesman said India had already informed Pakistan of its decision to release the fishermen. ''We have asked the Pakistan high commission to arrange for the repatriation of these fishermen,'' he added.

During the foreign secretary level talks in Islamabad last month, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief had announced his country's decision to release the Indian fishermen.

The external affairs ministry spokesman said Pakistan had informed India that it had 155 Indian fishermen in its custody. ''However, our records show that there are some more Indian fishermen in Pakistani jails.''

The spokesman said as far as Indian fishermen were concerned, New Delhi would soon send a team to Pakistan, consisting of boat owners and officials concerned. The boat owners would repair the boats captured so that the fishermen could be brought back.

''I expect that the same procedure would be followed by the Pakistani authorities,'' he added.

The spokesman said India had asked Pakistan not to allow the accumulation of the cases of fishermen captured on either side. ''Whenever fishermen are captured, they should be allowed to go back without delay once their antecedents have been checked.''

UNI

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