Twenty-four Indians languishing in Pakistani jails crossed into their homeland from the Wagah border on Friday.
The Pakistani government in a "goodwill gesture" on Thursday announced the release of 14 fishermen who had spent nearly 15 months behind bars in Karachi's Malir Jail.
The authorities on Thursday decided to free ten more Indian prisoners, including two women.
"We have handed over 24 Indian prisoners, including two women, to the Border Security Force on Friday," said Pakistan Rangers spokesman Mahboob Hussain.
Earlier this week, Indian authorities had released 87 Pakistani fishermen from various Indian jails.
Most Indian fishermen released on Friday are aged between 25 and 30 years. They hail from Junagadh and other areas of Gujarat.
They had been arrested eight months ago for crossing the international maritime border and entering Pakistani waters in the Arabian Sea.
Justice (retired) Nasir Aslam Zahid, chairman of the Sindh government committee for welfare of prisoners, told reporters that both Pakistan and India should ensure a "fast-track release of each others fishermen" and save them from becoming victims of maltreatment.
Justice Zahid, who is also a member of the India-Pakistan Judicial Committee on Prisoners, said that the eight-member committee had repeatedly recommended to the two governments the release of those fishermen who have either been already tried or are under trial for their alleged violation of sea borders.
"It does not make sense to arrest and prosecute the fishermen for their unintentional faults at sea and delay their return to their country on one pretext or the other," he said.
The maritime security agencies of the two countries should evolve a certain mechanism to warn the fishermen found near the border.
Justice Zahid was of the opinion that the governments of the two neighbouring countries could also constitute a joint committee to examine the cases of sea border violations, instead of registering cases under the foreign act against the fishermen, who strayed into the other country's territory, and putting them in jails for a long time unnecessarily.
Apart from the jail terms the fishermen had to undergo, there was a question of return of fishing boats often captured by the two countries, he said.
"Nearly 600 boats of the two countries are undergoing destruction, because there is no arrangement or agreed ways for their transfer to the respective owners on both side of the borders," Justice Zahid said.
Indian authorities had released 87 Pakistani fishermen who were captured between November 2010 and January 2011 for illegally entering Indian waters in the Arabian Sea.
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