NEW DELHI: India will release 11 Pakistani prisoners, who have served their sentence, as a good will gesture today (Monday), days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi exchanged greetings in Astana.
Last week India released two boys Ali Raza, 11 and Babar 10, who had accidently crossed working boundary with along with their uncle Muhammad Shahzad.
Muhammad Shahzad is still in Indian custody.
New Delhi will release 11 Pakistani prisoners, who had completed their sentence and Pakistan had sought their release.
Indian media cited officials saying the release of prisoners today is a humanitarian issue and should not be linked with downturn in Islamabad-New Delhi ties on Kulbhushan Yadav.
PM Nawaz and Narendra Modi met for the first time in 17 months, at a summit in Kazakhstan.
Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi shook hands and exchanged greetings at the opening of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Astana.
Sharif and Modi last met on the sidelines of the Paris climate summit in December 2015 before Modi surprised the world with an impromptu visit to Pakistan the same month.
An Indian foreign ministry official said that as it was the first contact between the leaders since Sharif underwent surgery, Modi enquired about the Pakistani leader´s health.
"He also enquired about Sharif´s mother and his family", the official said on condition of anonymity.
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