By Aamir Latif
Karachi, Pakistan
Pakistan’s maritime forces have arrested 58 Indian fishermen Thursday for trespassing into its territorial waters in the Arabian Sea, officials said.
The arrests have been made weeks after Pakistan released 35 other Indian fishermen for the same charges as a gesture of “goodwill.”
Shiraz Nazir, a senior city police official, told reporters that the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency had seized 11 boats carrying 58 Indian fishermen inside its territorial waters.
Nuclear rivals, Pakistan and India, frequently make such arrests as the maritime border between both countries in the Arabian Sea is poorly defined.
Moreover, a majority of boats owned by Pakistani and Indian fishermen lack the technology required to establish precise locations.
These fishermen often languish in jails for long periods of time - many of them remain behind the bars even after completion of their terms - because of tense relations between the two rival countries.
Currently, some 400 Pakistani fishermen are imprisoned in Indian jails, while 250 Indian fishermen are detained in Pakistan.
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