22 AP Fisherman To Celebrate Sankranthi With Families Thanks To YS Jagan’s Efforts

NEW DELHI: The 14-month long wait is finally over for 22 Andhra fishermen who were released from jail in Pakistan, and will celebrate this year's Sankranthi festival with their families this year.

The 22 Indian fishermen hail from Andhra Pradesh, and were released by the Pakisthani authorities on Monday morning. They will reach Delhi and be housed at the AP Bhawan, where a few formalities would be completed, after which they would be sent to Andhra Pradesh by plane. Fisheries Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana arrived in Amritsar on Saturday to receive the fisherman who, will be handed over to Indian officials at the Wagah Border at four o'clock this afternoon.

Speaking to the media there, Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana said that the YSRCP government had worked hard to free the 22 fishermen trapped in Pakistan's prison within six months of coming to power. He said that the family members of the imprisoned fisherman were worried if they would get to see them. But it is Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's instructions and the untiring efforts of MP Vijayasai Reddy have borne fruition, he said. The fishermen will be sent to Visakhapatnam from Delhi at 7 pm tomorrow (Tuesday) by flight, he said.

The Pakistan ministry of foreign affairs has informed the Indian high commission in Islamabad that Pakistan has decided to repatriate the fishermen to India via Wagha border on January 6th, YSRCP MP V Vijayasai Reddy had earlier told the media.

It may be recalled that during AP Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's pre-poll 'Padayatra' covering 3,648-km, he met the family members of the fishermen who brought the issue to his notice and the CM had ordered Rajya Sabha MP Vijaysai Reddy to look into the matter.

Pakistan had agreed to release them as a part of a prisoners exchange programme after special efforts were made by the YSRCP MP who spoke about the issue in the Rajya Sabha. He had also met the former external affairs minister late Sushma Swaraj who assured him her support to get the fishermen released try through diplomatic channels.

Pakistan Maritime Security Agency had arrested 22 fishermen who hailed from Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts off the Gujarat coast in November 2018.

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