Ahmedabad

Fifty-seven Indian fishing boats, released by Pakistan yesterday, arrived at Porbandar here tonight.

Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ship Vijit and Rajratan entered the Porbandar harbour escorting 57 Indian Fishing Boats (IFBs) that were returned by Pakistan authorities on Sunday as a good-will gesture near Indo-Pak International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), an ICG rlease said.

“The 57 IFBs were brought back under tow by equal number of hired trawlers that sailed from Porbandar under the company of ICG ships late in the nights of Friday,” the release said.

“The IFBs that are now returned were earlier apprehended by Pakistan Maritime Security Agencies (PMSA) in year 2013-2014 while they strayed into Pak waters. These IFBs are registered in Gujarat and Daman and Diu,” it further said.

Inspector General Kuldip Singh Sheoran Commander Coast Guard Region (North-West) said, “This kind of repatriation has happened after a gap of 11 years. The last such repatriation took place in the year 2004.”

However, around 800 Indian fishing boats captured by PMSA are still in the custody of Pakistan.

Government of India’s note on this

Return of 57 Indian fishing Boats from Pakistan today:

57 Indian fishing boats have arrived at Porbandar, Gujarat from Karachi, Pakistan. These boats started from Pakistan on March 21, 2015 and arrived at International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) on March 22, 2015.

A team of 57 numbers of towing boats, 407 fishermen and 10 Gujarat Government officials had sailed from Porbandar to the designated IMBL site on March 21, 2015 to receive the India boats from Pakistan. These boats were towed away by Pakistani trawlers to the designated location at IMBL site in sea water under the supervision of Pakistan Maritime Security Agency. Two India Coast Guard ships Rajratan and Vijit along with adequate manpower are supervising the whole operation.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had arranged the movement of 8-member team from the Government of Gujarat to Pakistan for inspection, repair and return of the boats on March 10, 2015. The Ministry of External Affairs, High Commission of India, Islamabad, Indian Coast Guard, Indian visiting team, Government of Pakistan and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency had several rounds of discussions regarding the return of boats to India.

The MHA coordinated and monitored the whole operation. The MHA also provided an amount of Rs. 1.28 crore approximately for the repair and return of the boats which was carried out from March 11, 2015 to March 19, 2015. It is mentioned that the average cost of each boat is approximately Rs. 25 – 30 lakh. Return of these boats will also ensure livelihood for a number of fishermen families. Last time, the operation of bringing 53 Indian fishing boats from Pakistan was in 2003-04.

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