The Gujarat government announced on Friday that Pakistan will free 20 Indian fishermen detained in Karachi’s Landhi jail on Sunday and hand them over to Indian authorities the next day. The fishermen will be released only days after India released and returned ten Pakistani fishermen on November 2. It also comes after the Pakistan Marine Security Agency (PMSA) reportedly killed one Indian fisherman on November 6 and injured another. “On November 15, Pakistan would free 20 Indian fisherman.” “They will enter India across the Wagah border,” Gujarat Fisheries Minister Jitu Chaudhary revealed.
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However, they were released from prison in Pakistan after serving their sentence. “These fishermen are among the 376 Indian fishermen who have served their prison sentences in Pakistan, and India has certified their nationality.” Some of them have also served their time in Pakistan for quite some time.
For example, Ranvir Mega’s sentence expired in May 2017, yet he remains imprisoned in Pakistan, according to Jatin Desai, former secretary of the Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD). “Now that the prison sentences of 376 Indian fishermen have completed and their nationality has been established, all of them, not just these 20, should be freed immediately,” he continued.
On November 2, India freed ten Pakistani fisherman from prison and returned them over the Wagah border. Indian officials apprehended them for allegedly violating Indian territorial seas. Around 600 Indian fishermen and 60 Pakistani fishermen are imprisoned in Pakistani jails.
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The alignment of the IMBL in the Arabian Sea is a source of contention between India and Pakistan, and every year the PMSA apprehends a few hundred Indian fishermen and their boats for allegedly crossing over to the opposite side of the notional maritime boundary. The Indian Coast Guard and other security services, on the other hand, have detained a number of Pakistani fishermen for reportedly crossing over to the Indian side of the IMBL.
On November 6, the PMSA allegedly chased and shot at the Indian fishing vessel Jal Pari, which had six fishermen on board, while it fished in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Jakhau in Kutch region. Shreedhar Chamre, a Maharashtra fisherman, was reportedly murdered.
