KARACHI, Oct 30: A warm send-off was given to 196 Indian fishermen when they started their journey to home on Tuesday afternoon.

Before their departure, a farewell ceremony was held on-board MSA ship MSS Nazim moored across Keamari basin. All the 196 fishermen were present there.

The ceremony was attended by the officials of the Fishermen Cooperative Society, the Maritime Security Agency and Indian fisheries officials.

The Deputy Director-General of Ehsanul Haq was also present.

The MSA also arranged special gift pockets for Indian fishermen. The fishermen with 32 boats were caught by the MSA for illegal fishing and were detained here for more than eight months.

Both the countries had announced the release of detained fishermen on the occasion of the Agra summit. However, the process could not take place because of monsoon.

FCS Vice-Chairman Haji Shafi Mohammad Jamote welcomed the release of the fishermen, saying fishermen should not be treated as criminals and be not detained for a longer time.

FCS manager administration Haji Ghazanfar Ali Boota said: “It is for the first time that repatriation was taking place in a a short as compared to the previous practice.

He hoped that the both the countries would maintain the present policy of goodwill.

Indian head of the delegation J.J Parmar advised the fishermen of both countries not to go into the territorial waters of other countries in their own interest.

He said detention had always brought untold miseries to the fishermen as well as their families, adding it was better that they should avoid fishing in the water zone of other country.

Mr Parmer lauded the attitude of MSA and FCS officials, particularly the role played by the FCS Manager Administration, in making repatriation arrangements in a smooth way. Mr Velge Masan Kansi, a representative of the Indian fishermen, also spoke.

A seven-member Pakistani delegation had already left for Bombay en route to Porbandar in western Indian state of Gujarat to look after the arrangements for the repatriation of 292 Pakistani fishermen with 21 boats.

Pakistani fishermen are expected to return to the country in the first week of November after the completion of boat repair works.

Meanwhile, 48 more Indian fishermen with eight boats had been arrested by a Pakistani security agency for illegal fishing in the water zone of the country, fisheries sources said here.