ISLAMABAD: India on Friday released 37 Pakistani prisoners — five of them civil and the remaining 32 fishermen — and handed them over to Pakistani authorities at the Wagah border, Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam told Dawn.

However, 484 Pakistani prisoners (348 civil and 136 fishermen) still remain lodged in Indian jails. Out of these, 25 civil prisoners have completed their sentences and await repatriation.

Aslam said that on May 26, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had directed that 151 Indian prisoners (one civil and 150 fishermen) be released as a good will gesture towards the neighbouring country ahead of his historic visit to New Delhi to attend Narendra Modi's swearing-in as premier.

"Pakistan has always held that the issue of prisoners in our respective countries is a humanitarian one and should be taken in that spirit,” the spokeswoman remarked.

"It is our hope that the Indian government would release all Pakistani prisoners who have completed their sentences,” she remarked.