Pakistan on Sunday released 220 Indian fishermen arrested for entering the country's territorial waters, officials said on Thursday.
The prisoner release is the first major sign of de-escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbours after months of high tension over the disputed Kashmir border.
"We have released 220 Indian fishermen this morning," senior police officer Sada Hussain Zardari told DPA.
He said the Indian fishermen were released as goodwill gesture. A remaining 219 Indian fishermen would be released on January 5, Zardari said.
Pakistan and India often arrest fishermen from each other countries when they stray across unmarked international boundaries in the Arabian Sea.
While they are often immediately released, fishermen can often languish in jail for months or years when political ties between the two regional rivals is under strain.
The relationship between Islamabad and New Delhi fell to its lowest ebb in years after an attack in September by militants on an Indian army base in the disputed region of Kashmir.
Indian fishermen walk out from a prison with their belongings after they were released in Karachi on Sunday.
