Thursday, April 14 2005 21:08 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: As a humanitarian gesture, India today (Apr 14, 2005) announced it will release 156 Pakistani fishermen on April 19.

The announcement by External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna comes two days before Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf commences his three-day visit to India.

India released 93 fishermen in 2003 and provided consular access to another 108 in its custody. On January 6 this year (2005), Pakistan released 266 Indian fishermen.

There are at present around 900 Indian civilian prisoners, about 400 fishermen and 54 Prisoners of War who are believed to be in Pakistan's custody.