A total of 3,293 Indian fishermen were released by Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the last three years.
As per details provided by Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh while replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Sri Lanka released a maximum of 1,753 Indian fishermen followed by 930 by Pakistan during 2014-2016.
Bangladesh had apprehended 610 Indian fishermen during the period and it released all of them.
In the last three years Pakistan had caught 1,121 Indian fishermen out of which in released 185 in 2014, 335 in 2015 and 410 in 2016.
Those released in 2016 included the fishermen arrested in previous years.
Sri Lanka had apprehended 1,531 fishermen in three years and those released by it included those who were arrested in previous years also.
"The government attaches the highest priority to the safety, security and welfare of Indian fishermen," Singh said.
To a separate question, he said a total of 5,190 journalist visas were issued in 2014 while the figure in 2015 was 4,591 and in 2016, it was 3,851.
Replying to another query, Singh said 6.04 lakh people from Uttar Pradesh were given emigration clearance between 2014 and 2016 under the Emigration Check Required category of passport holders.
He said 2.79 lakh people from Bihar were given emigration clearance under the category in the same period.
As per the Emigration Act, 1983, (ECR) categories of Indian passport holders, require to obtain "Emigration Clearance" from the office of Protector of Emigrants (POE),
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs for going to some countries.
These countries include United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Syria, Lebanon and Thailand.
