Pakistan authorities arrest 28 Indian fishermen for fishing in its territorial waters

Islamabad: Pakistan on Friday arrested at least 28 Indians for allegedly fishing in their territorial waters, a day after it announced the release of 291 Indian fishermen on humanitarian grounds over the next couple of weeks. [caption id=“attachment_4271969” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Indian fishermen, who were arrested for violating Pakistani border rules, are held at a detention center, in Karachi. PTI[/caption] An official of Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) said they nabbed the fishermen and seized five boats for fishing “illegally” in the country’s waters. “A case has been registered against 28 fishermen and they have been handed over to the police,” the official said. The arrests come a day after Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said 291 Indian fishermen will be released. “Pakistan has decided to release and repatriate 291 Indian fishermen in two phases — on 29 December and 8 January, 2018 via the Wagah Border as a goodwill gesture on humanitarian grounds,” he had said in a statement. Pakistan had released 68 Indian fishermen in October. A spokesman for PMSA had last week said that 400 Indian fishermen have been arrested this year. Fishermen from Pakistan and India are frequently detained for illegally fishing in each other’s territorial waters since the Arabian Sea does not have a clearly defined marine border and the wooden boats lack the technology to avoid being drifting away.