THIS refers to the editorial ‘Caught at sea’ (Feb 14) which correctly and forcefully presented the case of Pakistani and the Indian fishermen, who, because of undemarcated maritime boundary between Pakistan and India, inadvertently stray in the waters of the other country.

They are caught by the coast guards, and languish in jails for years. Sir Creek has remained un-demarcated because of a prolonged adversarial Pakistan-India relationship. And the heavy price for this animosity is paid by the vulnerable fishermen and their families.

As rightly pointed out, following the UN Convention of the Laws of the Sea, these fishermen should be released and their only source of earning — the boats — should be returned to them. Pakistan and India should delink the Sir Creek dispute from their other disputes expeditiously, and release the fishermen immediately.

Dr Mehtab Ali Shah
Jamshoro

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2023