In goodwill
gestures on the eve of the swearing-in of prime minister-designate
Narendra Modi, Pakistan on Sunday freed 151 Indian prisoners, while Sri
Lanka ordered the release of all detained Indian fishermen.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who will be among eight foreign
leaders attending the oath-taking ceremony on Monday, ordered the
release of 151 Indian prisoners and 57 fishing boats.
Fifty-nine prisoners were freed from Malir Jail in Karachi and 92 from
Nara Jail in Hyderabad and sent in buses to Lahore, where they will
cross over to the Indian side at the Wagah border crossing on Monday May 26,2014
Pakistani
officials said 521 Pakistani prisoners, including 168 fishermen, were
currently in Indian jails and expressed the hope that they would be
released soon.
Pakistan's Maritime Security Agency frequently arrests Indian fishermen
on charges of illegally entering their territorial waters.
The
release of fishermen by both sides has picked up pace following the
formation of the Joint Judicial Committee on Prisoners in 2007.
Sri Lankan
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who will attend the swearing-in, ordered
the release of all Indian fishermen in custody in his country as a
goodwill measure ahead of his visit to New Delhi, a presidential
spokesman said.
This is the second instance of Sri Lanka freeing Indian fishermen arrested for poaching.
In March 2014, Rajapaksa had ordered the release of fishermen after India
abstained from voting on an anti-Sri Lanka motion at the UN Human Rights
Council
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