ISLAMABAD: India has released 37 Pakistani prisoners including 32 fishermen and five common citizens as a goodwill gesture, and handed them over to Pakistan Rangers at the Wagah border on Friday.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said that 484 Pakistani prisoners including 348 civil and 136 fishermen still remain lodged in Indian jails. It said that out of these, 25 civil prisoners have completed their sentence and await repatriation.
The Foreign Office said that Pakistan has always held that the issue of prisoners in our respective countries is a humanitarian one and should be taken in that spirit.
It is our hope that the government of India would release all Pakistani prisoners who have completed their sentences, it added.
On May 25, under the directives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan also released 151 Indian fishermen.
The Pakistani authorities also returned 57 boats seized by Pakistani officials from the Indian fishermen on the same day, Sharif flew to New Delhi to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi.
