India on Sunday released 156 Pakistani fishermen languishing in jails in Jamnagar and Kutch districts of Gujarat.

The fishermen left for their homes by a train from Ahmedabad [Images].

This was as part of confidence-building measures between the two countries and comes in the backdrop of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's [Images] three-day visit to India.

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"These fishermen will be escorted up to the Indo-Pak border and handed over to [Pakistani] officials across the border at Wagah," Jamnagar District Superintendent of Police Manoj Shashidhar said.

Forty-year-old Ahmetullah, who was caught by Indian Coast Guard in 2002 said, "I feel happy to go home as a free man after 18 months. My family, comprising two children, a wife and aged parents, await me eagerly."

Regarding the Pakistani boats seized by India, Ahmetullah said it is a matter that needs to be looked into by officials of the two countries.