Fri Feb 27, 2009 (Reuters)
High-level officials from India and Pakistan have met for the first time since last year's Mumbai attacks, but little progress was made in reviving a peace dialogue that New Delhi put on hold after the raids.
An Indian government official said on Friday that Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and his Pakistan counterpart Salman Bashir met late on Thursday during a summit of regional foreign ministers in Colombo.
Both sides have exchanged angry rhetoric since the November attacks, with India saying the gunmen must have had support from official Pakistani agencies. Islamabad has accused New Delhi of indulging in a blame game.
Bashir "reiterated the need to resume the process as soon as possible with a view to promoting substantive engagement", the Pakistan government said in a statement in Colombo. India's state-run Doordarshan television quoted Menon as saying more needed to be done.
"It has to be recognised terrorism infrastructure inside that country has to be dismantled and credible steps towards this should be taken," Menon was quoted as saying.
"As far as resumption of composite dialogue is concerned, we have to see whether there is a real movement forward on (ending) terrorism," he said.
Ten gunmen went on the rampage in the November attacks, killing about 170 people in Mumbai landmarks including two five-star hotels, a Jewish centre and a busy railway station.
Pakistan has acknowledged that the raid had been launched and partly planned from Pakistan. It has detained several Islamist leaders, including some whom India has named as planners of the attack.
Earlier this week, India charged a man they say is the lone surviving gunman from the attacks with "waging war" against India and included two Pakistani soldiers among 37 others in the first charges laid in the case. (Reporting by Krittivas Mukherjee; Editing by Alistair Scrutton and Paul Tait)
No comments:
Post a Comment