Eight Indians holding cargo ship hostage near Karachi

LAHORE: Indian citizens have been holding a foreign cargo ship hostage near the Karachi port for the last nine months. Indian Foreign Office says the Indian High Commission has been directed to resolve the issue as early as possible.

According to details, the Indians are not permitting the ship to go. Sources say the ship had arrived at the Karachi port with cargo from an Indian company about nine months ago. Three Pakistanis and eight Indian were on board the ship. The three Pakistanis landed at the Karachi port along with the cargo.

However, on return, the Indian citizens stopped the ship from going out of Pakistani waters. They say the Indian company has not paid their salaries for the last several months. The Indian employees say they won’t let the ship return if their dues remained unpaid.

According to India External Affairs Ministry, the Indian High Commission has been directed to resolve the issue at the earliest. According to Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry officials, India has written a letter. They said the Indian nationals could not be allowed to enter Pakistan as they didn’t have Pakistani visas.

Meanwhile, renowned human rights activist Ansar Burney has contacted the Indian nationals to convince them to leave and try to resolve their issue in India, but they refused. Ansar Burney is confident that if the Indians return, he would help resolve their issue in a day.