ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Friday called for the release of Pakistani prisoners languishing in various jails of India as it announced that 40 Indian detainees were being freed on the directives of Federal Review Board (FRB).

“Pakistan is releasing 40 Indian prisoners, who will be repatriated to India through Wagah,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

Thirty-five of the Indian prisoners being freed are fishermen.

Know more: 36 Indian prisoners released from Karachi jail

The decision to release the prisoners comes a day after prime ministers of Pakistan and India shook hands at the Saarc summit in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu.

However, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said that Indians were being released on the instructions of the FRB constituted by the Supreme Court.

The board comprising three judges of the apex court has reviewed the cases of foreign prisoners in the country.

This was the second batch of Indian prisoners released from Pakistani jails this year.

Earlier, 151 detainees were released as a goodwill gesture on the occasion of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to India in May for attending the inauguration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Pakistan has released 191 Indians this year — 185 fishermen and six other people.

A total of 256 Indians are still in Pakistani jails.

“Pakistan has always held that the issue of prisoners between the two countries is a humanitarian one and should be taken in that spirit. It is our hope that the Government of India would release all Pakistani prisoners who have completed their sentences,” the statement said.

There are 487 Pakistanis in Indian jails.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2014