Goodwill gesture: Pakistan may release 57 Indian fishing vessels soon

Six-member delegation from Gujarat will travel to Pakistan to finalise the process

RAJKOT: Having expressed the desire last July to release 57 boats belonging to Indian fishermen, the move may be completed soon, Indian Express reported.

According to the publication, Minister of Fisheries in Indian Gujarat Babu Bokhiria said that the boats my be released as soon as March 31.

“Through a letter on Thursday, the Ministry of Home Affairs of India conveyed to Gujarat government the decision of Pakistan to release 57 fishing trawlers. We have been asked to claim the boats by March 31. In response to the letter, we shall send a six-member delegation to Pakistan to finalise modalities of bring the boats back,” Bokhiria said.

Read: Pakistan to release 57 Indian fishing boats

To complete the process, the Gujarat government will send a six-member delegation to Pakistan comprising officers from the state fisheries department and leaders from the fishermen community of Gujarat.

The move comes just days after Pakistan freed 172 Indian fishermen as a goodwill gesture and Prime Ministers of both the countries spoke to each other.

Read: Goodwill gesture: 172 Indian fishermen released in Karachi

“This is for the fist time after 2004 that Pakistan will release fishing boats of India. Pakistan has detained more than 700 fishing trawlers of Gujarat over the last 10 years. They have auctioned out a huge number of them. The 57 are in good condition and therefore they are releasing them."

The minister added that of the 57 vessels, 53 are seaworthy while the remaining four need some repairs.

Documents of the boats slated for released have already been provided to Pakistan authorities.

“The delegation will try and work out modalities of bringing boats back to Gujarat. Either Pakistan can release 114 fishermen still lodged in jail there to pilot the boats back or they will have to grant visa to an equal number of Indian fishermen,” said Bokhiria.

Velji Masani, the vice-president of All Gujarat Fishermen Federation who had visited Pakistan in August 2014, said authorities had shown them 857 Indian boats. He estimated that around 400 boats should still be afloat. “We welcome this decision of the Pakistan government. But we also demand that all the boats which are in good condition or are repairable should be returned,” he added, saying a trawler on average costs Rs4.5 million.