Pakistan to send 57 boats back to India, says Babu Bokhiria

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The minister said the delegation will comprise officers from the state fisheries department and leaders from the fishermen community of Gujarat. Sources said Pravin Malli, assistant director of fisheries of Vadodara, Pravin Rada, assistant superintendent of fisheries at Mangrol in Junagadh district and Velji Masani, vice-president of All Gujarat Fishermen Federation (AGFF) as well as three fishermen leaders from Porbandar had been selected as delegates. The delegation members were expected to reach Gujarat capital Gandhinagar on Friday and leave for Delhi on Saturday for seeking visa and completing other formalities for their visit to Pakistan.

“This is for the fist time after 2004 that Pakistan will release fishing boats of India. Pakistan has detained more than 700 fishing trawlers of Gujarat over the last 10 years. They have auctioned out a huge number of them. The 57 are in good condition and therefore they are releasing them. Out of the 57, 53 are seaworthy while the remaining four need some repair,” Bokhiria further said.

The minister added that documents of the boats to be released had already been provided to Pakistan authorities at relevant time. “The delegation will try and work out modalities of bringing boats back to Gujarat. Either Pakistan can release 114 fishermen still lodged in jail there to pilot the boats back or they will have to grant visa to an equal number of Indian fishermen,” said Bokhiria.

Masani said the boats which had been detained by Pakistan Marine Security Agency (PMSA) in recent years were being released. “Boasts seized only during the last three years can be in good condition. When we visited Pakistan in August, Pakistan authorities had shown us these boats in Karachi port. According to our records, there are 857 boats of Gujarat in custody of Pakistan. But many of them might have sunk by now,” said the AGFF president.

Masani further said he estimated that around 400 boats should still be afloat. “We welcome this decision of the Pakistan government. But we also demand that all the boats which are in good condition or are repairable should be returned,” he added, saying a trawler costs average Rs 45 lakh.

Pakistan had released 151 fishermen of India in May last year as a goodwill gesture before PM Sharif’s visit to India to attend swearing-in ceremony of Modi. It had followed this up by announcing in July release of 57 trawlers and a nine-member delegation from India had visited Pakistan in this regard in early August. However, the process had come to an abrupt halt in mid-August when India cancelled foreign-secretary-level talks with Pakistan after Pakistan ambassador to India met Kashmiri separatist leaders ahead of talks.

But the ice was broken somewhat when Modi and Sharif shook hands at South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Nepal in November last year. Soon, Pakistan released 40 Indian fishermen as goodwill gesture. This was followed up by release of 171 fishermen early this week after the two premiers talked on phone and now the announcement of going ahead with sending back 57 fishing boats.
PMSA arrests Indian fishermen, mostly from Gujarat, and detains their boats from disputed waters of the Arabian sea off Gujarat coast. The two countries have long-standing disputes over international maritime boundary line. Therefore, security agencies of Pakistan arrest Indian fishermen and vice versa routinely for allegedly fishing in disputed waters.

The 172 fishermen released early this week reached their homes late on Thursday. But Masani said there were more than 300 Indian fishermen still languishing in Pakistani jails.