WAGAH, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistan released 564 Indians from its prisons on Tuesday in a goodwill gesture toward neighboring India.

The prisoners, mostly fishermen, were handed over to Indian officials at Wagah, about 15 miles east of Lahore.

“This is the first time that prisoners in such a large number have been handed over to us by Pakistan,” Balvinder Hampal, an Indian embassy official, told reporters. “Such steps will certainly help promote the peace process between the two countries.”

Before walking through the huge gates at Wagah that separate the two countries, the prisoners said they were grateful to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf for freeing them.

“It was a bad experience. I saw jail for the first time,” said 60-year-old Lakshman Shanker. He was one of dozens of fishermen arrested in November 2004 after their boat strayed into Pakistani waters.

Pakistan and India share a border in the Arabian Sea and often arrest each other’s fishermen for illegal entry.

The two countries have taken steps in recent months to normalize relations after more than half a century of hostility, mainly over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

The two countries have fought two wars over Kashmir since their independence from British rule in 1947.