India on Thursday firmly ruled out release of any Pakistani prisoner in exchange for Sarabjit Singh, whose execution was deferred by a month by President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday.“We have appealed to the Pakistani Government and we hope that Pakistan will listen to our appeal. Nobody will be released in exchange,” said Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal on Thursday, when asked if there was any move to swap prisoners.Jaiswal, however, added that if any Pakistani prisoner can be “lawfully” set free then it will be done. On Wednesday, Sarabjit’s wife Sukhpreet Kaur had also said that they did not wish him to be repatriated from Pakistan if it meant that India had to release hardcore terrorists in exchange. “I and my daughters would never like that Sarabjit should be freed if any hardcore Pakistani terrorists lodged in Indian jails are released in exchange,” she had said. “Nothing is above the nation and we can’t go against the interests of our motherland.”Meanwhile, PTI reports quoted sources in the Pakistani administration as saying that the authorities concerned with Sarabjit’s case had decided that it would be best for the issue to be “put on hold” till the new Government is formed by the Pakistan People’s Party and its allies.A statement issued by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad said: “The reprieve now allows time for the appeals for clemency to be given proper consideration from all angles, including by the new Government expected to take office in Pakistan soon.”The case has found an ally in Pakistani human rights activist Asma Jahangir, who supported the demand for clemency, but slammed both Islamabad and New Delhi for “playing politics” over the lives of prisoners.In Chandigarh, Sarabjit's daugther Swapandeep Kaur said it appeared that Pakistan had softened its stand on her father. “We have applied for visas and if they allow us to visit Pakistan, we will produce evidence on his innocence,” she said.
