External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj thanked the Emir of Kuwait for pardoning the Indian prisoners
The Emir of Kuwait has freed 22 Indian prisoners and commuted the sentences of 97 others held in the Arab country's jails, according to India's Embassy in Kuwait City.
The list containing the names of the 119 Indians who have been freed or had their sentences reduced is an addition to the 15 Indian prisoners whose death sentences were recently commuted to life imprisonment.
The Indian prisoners in Kuwait covered by the Amiri pardon include 22 people who have been ordered to be released immediately, the Embassy said in it's statement.
Sentences of 53 Indians have been reduced from life imprisonment to 20 years, it said.
The Emir of Kuwait has ordered a reduction of three quarters of the sentence of 18 Indians, a reduction of half period of the sentences of 25 and one quarter of the sentence of one, the statement said.
The charges in most of the cases involved narcotics, trading or consumption of drugs, theft, robbery and fraud among others.
All the 15 prisoners whose death sentences have been converted to life imprisonment were convicted in drug-related charges, said the statement.
The Indian mission said that it would provide all possible assistance for their travel to India after their release or completion of sentences.
Efforts were also being made to help those Indian prisoners who have given their consent to spend rest of their sentence period in India.