Prisoners issue a humanitarian one: Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Days after releasing 163 Indian fishermen, Pakistan today said it has always considered the issue as a humanitarian one and expressed hope that the two nations would release all prisoners who have completed their sentences but are still lodged in each other's jails.

"Pakistan has always held that the issue of prisoners in our respective countries is a humanitarian one and should be taken in that spirit. It is our hope that both countries will release all prisoners who have completed their sentences," Foreign Office said in a statement.

Pakistan on Sunday released 163 Indian fishermen, including three minors, from two jails as a goodwill gesture following a recent understanding between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Russia.

Both countries regularly arrest fishermen who stray in each other's waters due to poorly marked sea boundary.

According to the latest list exchanged by the two sides, there were 355 Indian fishermen languishing in Pakistani jails and 27 Pakistani fishermen lodged in Indian jails.