India on Friday ruled out any move that envisages exchange of prisoners over the issue of Indian citizen Sarabjit Singh, who has been sentenced to death by the Pakistan Supreme Court on charges of espionage and bomb blasts in 1990.

Foreign Secretary Shaym Saran told reporters here that New Delhi did not have such a proposal.

"We have not talked about exchange of prisoners in Sarabjit's case," Saran said.

Saran, however, confirmed that Pakistan has agreed to provide consular access to Sarabjit.

During a meeting with Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan and his deputy Munawar Saeed Bhatti on Thursday, Indian Foreign Minister K. Natwar Singh said Sarabjit's case was a humanitarian issue and that there was a strong public sentiment in the country for sparing his life.

Sarabjit's family has claimed that it is a case of mistaken identity, and that the man who has been sentenced to death is Manjit Singh and not Sarabjit Singh.

Nevertheless, Saran said India will highlight the need for taking a humanitarian view to resolve the issue of Indian and Pakistani prisoners languishing for several years in jails in each other's country at the upcoming official-level talks.

The issue would figure at the Indo-Pak home secretary-level talks to be held here on Aug. 29 and 30 as also when he meets his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Muhammad Khan in Islamabad next week, Saran said.

He said India has already agreed to release a number of Pakistani prisoners and the verification process was underway.

Source: Xinhua