The External Affairs Minister SM Krishna Delhi has requested Islamabad to release all Indians languishing in Pakistani jails including Sarabjit Singh. Mr Krishna told media persons that the government of India has consistently urged the government of Pakistan on several occasions to take a sympathetic and humanitarian view on the case of Sarabjit Singh.
The move comes after Pakistan clarified last night that it has taken steps to release of another Indian prisoner named Surjeet Singh and not Sarabjeet Singh. Mr Krishna had yesterday thanked Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari after reports came that Islamabad will release Sarabjit, but that was later denied by Pakistan. Mr Krishna today welcomed the decision to release Surjeet Singh and made a fresh request for the release of Sarabjit.
In a midnight drama after Pakistani news channels played out for hours that Sarabjit was to be released, Pakistani Presidential Spokesman Farhatullah Babar disassociated the President from any such decision. He had said that there was some confusion. He said, it is not a case of pardon and more importantly, it is not Sarabjit. Pakistani Presidential Spokesman Farhatullah Babar had said, that it was Surjeet Singh, son of Sucha Singh whose death sentence was commuted in 1989 by the then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan on the advice of the then Prime minister Benazir Bhutto.