Pakistan to free 57 Indian fishing boats

Mangalore Today News Network

Ahmedabad, March 19, 2015: Within 10 months of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif promising that Indian fishing trawlers seized by his country would be released, Islamabad is all set to home-deliver the boats to fishermen in Gujarat.

 

While this announcement was considered to be a goodwill gesture, Pakistan has gone one step ahead and is set to send the trawlers up to the International Marine Boundary Line (IMBL) and hand them over to the Indian Coasts Guard (ICG).

The latter would ferry as many as 57 boats to Gujarat fishermen, 50 of them belong to those in Porbandar, four in Vanakbara and three Mangrol- all on the Saurashtra coast. The trawlers would be towed by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (MSA) up to the maritime border.

This is a major shift in Islamabad’s stance since it was to earlier issue visas to 157 crewmen to ferry back the boats.

The Pakistan government has informed an eight-member Indian delegation that is already in the country to complete the relevant formalities.

According to Gujarat’s Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Babubhai Bokhiria, "Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (MSA) will hand over these boats at IMBL to ICG."

 

Courtesy: Indiatoday