Released Indian fishermen stand in a queue to board a train at a railway station in southern Pakistani port city of Karachi on Oct. 29, 2017. Pakistan released 68 Indian fishermen on Sunday as a goodwill gesture amid tensions with India over cross-border firing exchanges, officials said. (Xinhua/Arshad)
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan released 68 Indian fishermen on Sunday as a goodwill gesture amid tensions with India over cross-border firing exchanges, officials said.
The Indian fishermen had been arrested for intrusion into Pakistani waters for illegal fishing and were freed from a prison in the Pakistani port city of Karachi.
The freed fishermen will be handed over to the Indian authorities at the Wahga border on Monday, officials said.
An official from Sindh Province, of which Karachi is the capital, told the media that the fishermen were released after the authorities received instructions from the Interior Ministry in Islamabad.
Pakistan and India routinely arrest fishermen who cross water boundaries for illegal fishing, but the two bitter neighbors have not yet reached an agreement on maritime boundaries.
Pakistan also freed a group of 78 Indian fishermen in July this year.
