India-Pakistan relations: Islamabad court orders release of 350 Indian fishermen

Islamabad: A court in Islamabad on Wednesday ordered the release of 350 Indian fishermen, who were jailed for illegal fishing, IANS said.

According to the news agency, Judicial Magistrate Malir Salman Amjid Siddiqui in his order told the Interior Ministry to release the fishermen at the earliest.

The judge in his order said the eight months spent in a Pakistani jail by the fishermen has been considered their punishment.

The fishermen from both the countries routinely find themselves arrested for illegal fishing as there is no clear boundary between India and Pakistan in the Arabian sea.

The decision has come as a surprise especially since fishermen from both countries often have to face the brunt of animosity between the neighbouring countries.

India-Pakistan relations have hit a rather tumultuous road after militants led a series of co-ordinated attacks inside Indian borders, and with the Indian Army taking a retaliatory stand with cross-border strikes.

The latest thorn between the two neighbouring countries has been the death sentence awarded to former Indian naval soldier Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani military court. While Pakistan claimed that it arrested Jadhav while operating inside Pakistan, India has maintained the Jadhav was kidnapped and brought inside Pakistan.

India recently moved the International Court of Justice against the death sentence and managed to convince the world court to tell Pakistan to put on hold Jadhav’s execution until the matter is being discussed at the court.

With inputs from IANS