Pakistan hands over list of 261 Indian prisoners: Foreign Ministry

The Pakistani government on Monday handed over a list of 261 Indian prisoners in Pakistan to the High Commission of India in the capital Islamabad, said a statement from Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This step is consistent with the provisions of the consular access agreement between Pakistan and India, signed on May 21, 2008, under which both countries are required to exchange lists of prisoners in each other's custody twice a year, on Jan. 1 and July 1, respectively, said the Foreign Ministry statement, adding that the prisoners include 52 civilians and 209 fishermen.

Indian fishermen show their travelling cards as they sit at a railway station in the Pakistan's port city of Karachi on April 28, 2019, after they were released from the Malir Jail. Pakistan on April 28 released 55 Indian fishermen held for trespassing into its territorial waters, officials said. [Photo: VCG]

The Indian government will also share the list of Pakistani prisoners with the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi, the statement said.

Pakistan and India routinely arrest fishermen, who cross water boundaries for illegal fishing, but the two neighbors have not yet reached an agreement on maritime boundaries to sort out the prevailing issue.

Pakistani officials said that over 300 Indian fishermen have been released since April 2019 as a goodwill gesture.

The lists of prisoners were exchanged amid tensions between Pakistan and India following a suicide bombing in the Indian-controlled Kashmir in February this year, which further deteriorated relations between the two uneasy neighbors.