The Government has repatriated 2559 Indian fishermen and 63 Indian civilian prisoners from Pakistan since 2014 and 266 Indian fishermen and 42 civilians are still in the custody of Pakistan.
 
In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs, V. Muralidharan said that 398 Indian Fishermen and five Indian civilian prisoners have been repatriated this year so far. Pakistan has been repeatedly asked to expedite the release and repatriation of 258 Indian prisoners who have completed their sentence and whose nationality has been confirmed and conveyed to Pakistan.
 
He informed the house that as per the India-Pakistan ‘Agreement on Consular Access’ signed on the 21st of May 2008, lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen of each country, lodged in the jails of the other, are exchanged on the 1st of January and the 1st of July of every year. According to the lists exchanged on the 1st of July 2023, Pakistan has acknowledged the custody of 266 fishermen and 42 civilian prisoners who are Indian or are believed-to-be-Indian.