Pakistan releases 30 Indian prisoners: foreign ministry

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 13  — Pakistan has decided to release 30 Indian prisoners, including 27 fishermen on Monday, the Foreign Ministry said.
“This is a humanitarian gesture to mark Pakistan’s Independence Day on August 14,” a Foreign Ministry’s statement said.
Pakistan and India got independence from the British colonial rule in August 1947.
“This is in line with Pakistan’s consistent policy of not politicizing humanitarian issues. It is our hope that the Indian side will also reciprocate in a similar manner,” the Foreign Ministry statement said.
Pakistan freed Indian fishermen as a goodwill gesture amid tensions with India over cross-border firing exchanges in the disputed Kashmir region.
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, officials said.
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.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week spoke to Imran Khan, Pakistan’s prime minister-in-waiting, and congratulated him on the victory of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in the parliamentary elections on July 25.
Imran Khan in his victory speech on July 26 offered dialogue to India and peaceful solution to problems. – XINHUA