The released Indian nationals were later put on four buses, which will take them to Wagah border near Lahore for their handing over to the Indian authorities on Sunday.
Pakistan on Thursday freed 26 Indian fishermen, including one suffering from bone cancer, from a jail in Karachi as a goodwill gesture. Twenty-five fishermen will be repatriated via the Wagah land border crossing on Friday while Samant Lakshman Bambhaniya, who is suffering from cancer, will be flown back to his home in Gujarat.
Unlike Wagah, where India and Pakistan mount an elaborate daily drama of military ritual watched by tourists on both sides, the Demilitarized Zone, which separates North and South Korea is barren and desolate, a terrain bristling with hostility, discovers Nikhil Lakshman.
After spending 31 years in Pakistani jail, Indian prisoner Surjeet Singh on Thursday walked free and crossed over to his home country to an emotional reunion with his family.
'Trade cannot take place when there is no trust.'
'Terrorists have targeted US diplomats and diplomatic facilities in the past, and information suggests they continue to do so'
Firming up confidence building measures, India repatriated 91 Pakistani prisoners, including 87 fishermen, at the Amritsar-Wagah Border on Tuesday on the eve of crucial talks between the foreign ministers of both the nations in New Delhi.
The ameer of the banned jihadi organisation Jamaatul Daawa Hafiz Mohammad Saeed seems to be the prime suspect behind a threat letter, apparently sent by Lashkar-e-Tayiba and warning the Pakistani authorities to blow up the recently inaugurated Attari check post at Wagah border near Lahore. Amir Mir reports
The home minister assured the family members of Kirpal Singh of all possible help from the government, official sources said.
Pakistan on Wednesday freed 315 Indian fishermen, including over 20 juveniles, from a prison in Karachi as a goodwill gesture, with officials saying that they had been sent to Lahore to be repatriated via the Wagah land border crossing.
Twenty-four Indians languishing in Pakistani jails crossed into their homeland from the Wagah border on Friday.
Striking a positive note ahead of the India-Pakistan talks, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Monday said Islamabad would extend all required cooperation to India on the terror issue and share related information.
The bus service was first started in February 1999 but suspended after the 2001 Parliament attack. It was restarted in July 2003.
Released Indian fishermen wave National Flags as they cross the Wagah border on Friday follwing their release from Pakistan.
This is the spiritual leader's second visit to the neighbouring country (the first one was in July 2004). During his three-day peace mission, Sri Sri will meet top leaders to strengthen collaborative efforts between the two countries.
Pakistan Home Secretary Chaudhary Qamar Zaman arrived in Attari, Amritsar for talks with his Indian counterpart G K Pillai and said such efforts would enhance peaceful relations between the two sides.
The J&K government has cleared release of 15 Pakistani nationals including several militants.
Sharif, the PML-N prime ministerial candidate, said that Pakistan cannot become a great nation by voting leaders like Imran Khan who have made false promises to "our nation".
A Sports Ministry source said that 'the minister (Kiren Rijiju) is set to start an inquiry.'
Pakistan has made elaborate security arrangements on its territory during the routine evening Beating the Retreat ceremony, said a senior official of the country on Monday.
Here's a recap of the events from the past 24 hours.
Pakistan on Sunday released 86 more Indian fishermen arrested for allegedly trespassing into its territorial waters, the second such batch freed this month in a goodwill gesture.
'They are aware that they have been unable to bring about any change in the security situation in Kashmir and have failed to internationalise the Kashmir issue.'
Dubbing Pakistan's decision to ban onion exports across the Wagah border as "shocking", India on Thursday said the issue has been taken up with the concerned authorities in Islamabad.
Pakistan has imposed a complete ban on the export of onion to India via Wagah-Attari land route, a development which may hit Indian government's efforts in rein in skyrocketing prices of bulb in the country.
"Mera Bharat mahaan, meri madam mahaan, sab madam ne hi kiya hai," Ansari's mother Fauzia Ansari told EAM.
Pakistan on Thursday freed 89 Indian prisoners, including fishermen, from a jail in the port city of Karachi as part of a process initiated by the two countries to speed up the release of people held in each other's prisons for inadvertently crossing land and maritime boundaries.
It is the first meeting between officials of India and Pakistan to discuss the Kartarpur corridor issue, amid heightened tensions between the two nations over the Pulwama terror attack, followed by India's pre-emptive air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed camps in Balakot and Pakistan's subsequent retaliation.
Starting the 100-day countdown to this year's Commonwealth Games, the Queen's Baton Relay arrived in India from Pakistan through the historic Wagah Border in Amristar, on Friday. Chairman of the CWG Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi, received the baton from Pakistan Olympic Association president Lt Gen Syed Arif Hassan at the international border, where the Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell was also present.
Lets see if the film manages to stay as slick as the trailer, writes Raja Sen.
The supplies through the land route has been stuck as authorities have made it mandatory for exporters to possess 'irrevocable letters of credit' issued before January 4.
Common people in India and Pakistan will continue to strive for peace and friendship irrespective of what their political masters do. That was the mood at the India-Pakistan Peace Caravan that flagged off from Mumbai on July 28 and reach Atari border on August 14.
Pakistan will release 17 Indian prisoners as a goodwill gesture on June 23, official sources said late Monday.
There is no proposal under consideration to give India the Most Favoured Nation status, Pakistan Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan has said.
'On the Kashmir and Pakistan question, it is startling that Vajpayee and Advani did more than anybody in Indian history.'
A second group of 100 Indian fishermen was released from a jail in the southern port city of Karachi on Thursday as part of a move by Pakistani authorities to free 442 fishermen who have completed their prison terms.
Art of Living proponent Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has called upon people of India and Pakistan to recognise the voice of peace within and create a violence-free world.
An Indian national imprisoned in a jail in Lahore has died of tuberculosis, Pakistan authorities said on Thursday, after leading human rights activist Ansar Burney claimed that the death had occurred in 'suspicious' circumstances. Mushtaq Awan, the Superintendent of Kot Lakhpat jail, said Indian national Suraj Singh was mentally deranged and had died on Wednesday of tuberculosis. Singh, a resident of Jaipur, was arrested a year ago.
Pakistan has asked India to revive the composite dialogue as soon as possible, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told the media on Friday.
'It is not the individuals, but the system of propaganda and inducement of hatred that is to blame. And that suits the Pakistani establishment just fine: It sustains their failing State.'
