ISLAMABAD, July 16: The government has decided to release, on humanitarian grounds, 236 Indian fishermen and their boats under detention in Pakistan, a Foreign Office spokesman said.

The Indian High Commission in Islamabad had been asked to make arrangements for these fishermen’s return to India, the spokesman said in a statement issued here on Tuesday.

The government has also decided to help facilitate the return of Indian nationals stranded in Pakistan due to the disruption of rail, road and air links between the two countries by condoning their periods of overstay. All such stranded Indian nationals will be allowed to proceed to India via the Wagha-Attari checkpoint.