ISLAMABAD (Reuters) –
India urged Pakistan on Saturday to put more people on trial for the 2008 attacks on Mumbai as the two nuclear-armed nations promised to join efforts to combat terrorism.
Relations between the uneasy neighbours, who have fought three wars since 1947, went into a freeze after Pakistani-based militants killed 166 people in the Indian financial capital.
“All the masterminds and the handlers behind 26/11 must be brought to justice,” Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram told a joint news conference with Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik a day after their meeting in Islamabad.
“At the same time, we must ensure that terrorists have no free run, either in Pakistan or (in) India.”
Although Chidambaram did not mention him by name, India also wants Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group and the man New Delhi says masterminded the bloodshed, to face trial.
Malik said Pakistan was committed to bringing those responsible for the Mumbai attacks to justice and both countries had promised to coordinate their efforts to confront terrorism.
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“We have resolved together that both (investigating) agencies of India and Pakistan will be working together and we will not allow any such incident in future.”
Chidambaram said he had held “positive” talks with Malik. Chidambaram is the first Indian government minister to visit visit Pakistan since Mumbai attacks, signalling a thaw.
The meeting came a day after the two nuclear rivals’ top diplomats expressed optimism that relations would improve after Mumbai.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani met on the sidelines of a regional conference last month in Bhutan and agreed to get talks going, which India broke off after the assault.
Pakistan has acknowledged the Mumbai attack was plotted and partly launched from its soil but has maintained that India has not provided sufficient evidence against Saeed.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court last month upheld a lower court’s decision to release Saeed, who also leads an Islamist charity, Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The U.N. Security Council put Saeed and his charity on a list of al Qaeda associates.
The foreign ministers of Pakistan and India will meet on July 15 in Islamabad to push forward efforts aimed at normalising ties.
(Additional reporting and writing by Zeeshan Haider; editing by Michael Roddy)
(For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/afghanistanpakistan)