India on Sunday released 156 Pakistani fishermen languishing in jails in Jamnagar and Kutch districts of Gujarat.
The fishermen left for their homes by a train from Ahmedabad.
This was as part of confidence-building measures between the two countries and comes in the backdrop of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's three-day visit to India.
"These fishermen will be escorted up to the Indo-Pak border and handed over to [Pakistani] officials across the border at Wagah," Jamnagar District Superintendent of Police Manoj Shashidhar said.
Forty-year-old Ahmetullah, who was caught by Indian Coast Guard in 2002 said, "I feel happy to go home as a free man after 18 months. My family, comprising two children, a wife and aged parents, await me eagerly."
Regarding the Pakistani boats seized by India, Ahmetullah said it is a matter that needs to be looked into by officials of the two countries.