Chidambaram, Rao should ask Pak to release Gujarat fishermen: Modi

By Representative:
Vadodara: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday asked Home Minister P Chidambaram and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao to seek the release of over 550 Gujarati fishermen languishing in Pakistan jails during their upcoming visit to the neighbouring country.

"Chidambaram and Rao should pressurise their counterparts on releasing the fishermen on humanitarian and health grounds as some of them are suffering from diseases in the Pakistani jails," Modi said over telephone.

They should also discuss the issue of getting released 444 boats seized by Pakistan as they have stopped releasing them since 2003, he said.

Modi said the total cost of these boats were estimated at over Rs 250 crore. Because of the seizure of these boats, more than 50,000 fishermen in Gujarat have become jobless, he added.

While Rao will meet her Pakistani counterpart Salman Basher tomorrow, Chidambaram is expected to meet his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik on the sidelines of the SAARC Interior Ministers meeting in Islamabad on June 25 and 26.