ISLAMABAD, Nov 1: Pakistan said on Saturday it would release 74 Indian fishermen next week as part of an ongoing peace initiative between Pakistan and India.

A foreign ministry statement said the gesture was part of Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s May 6 peace package. The fishermen would be released on November 4.

This will be the second batch of fishermen to be released since Mr Jamali responded positively to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s overture of friendship in April this year. Earlier, Islamabad had freed 269 Indian fishermen in September, two years after they were arrested after straying into Pakistani territorial waters.—AFP