Pakistan arrests 23 Indian fishermen

Pakistani authorities have arrested 23 Indian fishermen and seized four boats for violating the country’s maritime boundary, officials said Tuesday.

The fishermen were detained by the Maritime Security Agency (MSA) during a routine patrol, a spokesman for the agency said.

He said the Indian fishermen and their boats were apprehended for entering deep inside Pakistani waters.

The spokesman said the fishermen had been warned by the Pakistani maritime authority, but they “ignored” the warning.

Pakistani officials insist that the Indian fishermen allegedly continued to intrude into the country’s marine-rich Indus delta region regardless of the livelihood of local fishermen, Xinhua reported.

The MSA handed over the fishermen to police in Karachi for further investigation.

India and Pakistan routinely arrest fishermen on charges of entering each other’s waters as the two nuclear rivals have not yet determined their maritime boundary despite a series of talks on the issue.

On Sunday, Indian officials said that at least 14 Pakistani fishermen were caught and their two boats were seized by the Indian Coast Guard from within the Indian maritime boundary.