In a goodwill gesture, Pakistan today repatriated nearly 86 fishermen and a person from Jammu and Kashmir.
All the prisoners crossed over to India through the land transit route of Attari Wagah border on the basis of 'Emergency Travel Certificate' issued by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, officials said here.
The moment the group of the fishermen, mostly from Gujarat and neighbouring states, crossed over to India, they kissed Indian soil.
After the repatriation, the medical examination of all prisoners was conducted by the team of Indian doctors, they said.
All the Indian nationals were freed from the Landhi Jail in Karachi earlier.
The fishermen had strayed into Pakistan while fishing in the Arabian Sea and were held captive by the Pakistani coast guards for "illegal" fishing.
The fishermen said it was difficult to differentiate the territorial waters and they slipped into Pakistani territory.
(Reopens FGN 21)
The Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement issued this evening said that the humanitarian gesture would help promote better ties between the two countries.
"Pakistan believes that such humanitarian gestures would promote better understanding between the two countries," it said.
"It is our hope that the Indian side will also reciprocate in a similar manner," the statement added.
