New Delhi, Jun 22: As promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 88 Pakistani fishermen, who were released from various jails in Gujarat earlier this week as part of a goodwill gesture, crossed over to their native country through the land transit route of Attari/Wagah border on Sunday.
According to news agency ANI, the fishermen were handed over to Pakistan on the basis of 'Emergency Travel Certificate' issued by the Delhi based Pakistan High Commission.
These fishermen were in police custody after they were released by a district court earlier.
Out of total 115 Pakistani fishermen, the release of remaining 27 of them will be considered as and when their nationality is confirmed by the Pakistan High Commission in India.
The fishermen, who hail from Gujarat, had unintentionally ventured into unmarked territorial waters. They were released after being imprisoned from nine months to one and a half year.
"While 82 fishermen were lodged in Dwarka jail, six more fishermen were in a jail in Kutchh after their arrest. There are six minor boys among them who were lodged in a remand home in Dwarka," PTI had quoted Devbhoomi Dwarka SP Jagdish Patel as saying.
He had also said that Pakistani authorities have verified that these fishermen are indeed nationals of that country.
In a similar goodwill gesture, Pakistan had on Friday repatriated 113 Indian fishermen, who spent nine months behind bars, to India's BSF via the Attari-Wagah joint check post.
The relief came in the wake of PM Modi calling up the Pakistan Prime Minister to wish him on the occasion of Ramzan on June 16 and stressing the need for having "peaceful and friendly" bilateral ties.
Modi had also conveyed to Sharif, India's decision to release detained Pakistani fishermen on the occasion of Ramzan, a move seen as a bid to lower tensions between the two countries.
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