Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] has said that India has taken up the matter of Sarabjit Singh, who is on death row in Pakistan, with Islamabad at the highest level.

In a reply to a letter from Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Singh assured him that the government is making all possible efforts to seek a reprieve for Sarabjit, who is scheduled to be hanged on April 1, Prime Minister's media adviser Sanjaya Baru said in a statement.

India has sought consular access to Sarabjit, who has been served a death warrant after spending 17 years in jail for alleged involvement in the 1990 bomb blasts in Lahore [Images] and Multan, according to sources in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

It had been indicated to the Pakistani authorities that hanging him "might not be the best way to deal with the situation in the prevailing circumstances", sources said.

There has been little hope coming from Islamabad with Pakistani Minister Ansar Burney, who was instrumental in the recent release of the Indian death row prisoner Kashmir Singh, saying he would not submit any petition in support of Sarabjit as he had been "charged with terrorism".