India formally accused "elements" in Pakistan of being behind the devastating Islamic militant attacks in Mumbai and demanded that Islamabad take "strong action".
The move came after Indian officials said investigations had shown that all the attackers involved in the 60-hour-long assault, which left at least 172 dead and close to 300 wounded, were Pakistani nationals.
The attacks were also described as a "major setback" for the peace process between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
"The High Commissioner of Pakistan was called to the Ministry of External Affairs this evening. He was informed that the recent terrorist attack on Mumbai was carried out by elements from Pakistan," a statement said.
Strong action expected
In New Delhi's first formal complaint to Islamabad, India said it "expects that strong action would be taken against those elements, whosoever they may be, responsible for this outrage".
A Jewish centre was among the targets and eyewitnesses said some attackers singled out Britons and Americans in two luxury hotels. Civilians were also gunned down in a railway station, hospital and a cafe.
"What has happened is a grave setback to the process of normalisation of relations and the confidence-building measures," Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told AFP.
Officials said they are convinced the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, possible with assistance from sections within Pakistan's powerful spy service, staged the operation.
But Pakistan's government has denied it was in any way linked to the operation by the well-trained and well-financed attackers. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has urged India not to "over-react".
India and Pakistan have fought three wars and were on the brink of a fourth over a 2001 militant assault on the Indian parliament.
India's ruling Congress party said any response would be "carefully considered" but made it clear that a line had been crossed.
"We have been confronted by a rising tide of terrorism for some time but the attack in Mumbai was qualitatively different and calls for immediate and stern action," Congress party spokeswoman Jayanti Natarajan told reporters.
Rice urges Pakistani cooperation
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is due to visit India on Wednesday, said it was crucial that Pakistan exhibit "complete, absolute, total transparency and cooperation" with the Indian investigation into the attacks.
"What we are emphasising to the Pakistani government is the need to follow the evidence wherever it leads and to do so in the most committed and firmest possible way," she told reporters accompanying her on a trip to Europe.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino also said she had "heard nothing that says that the Pakistani government was involved," adding that US President George W Bush was briefed in the White House situation room on the Mumbai attacks.
Pakistan has repeatedly underlined that it is fighting its own battle against Islamist insurgents, who have taken their bloody campaign to the heart of the Pakistan capital and stressed the two nations have a common enemy.
Lashkar, which has been battling Indian troops in Kashmir, was banned by Pakistan in 2002.
Public outrage in India was fuelled on Monday by fresh reports that clear warnings of a coming assault were ignored.
The Hindustan Times said a captured Lashkar operative had told his Indian interrogators back in February that the militant group was planning an attack on Mumbai's five-star hotels.
Tension between India and Pakistan date to the post-independence partition of India in 1947 that created the Islamic state of Pakistan and led to horrific bloodletting between Muslims and Hindus.
India has also had its share of homegrown unrest, from Muslims to Maoists to Hindu extremists, and Indian officials have repeatedly declined to blame Pakistan directly for the Mumbai attacks.
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[headline] => India demands Pakistan take 'strong action'
[abstract] => India has accused 'elements' in Pakistan over the devastating Mumbai attacks, demanding Islamabad take 'strong action'.
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India formally accused "elements" in Pakistan of being behind the devastating Islamic militant attacks in Mumbai and demanded that Islamabad take "strong action".
The move came after Indian officials said investigations had shown that all the attackers involved in the 60-hour-long assault, which left at least 172 dead and close to 300 wounded, were Pakistani nationals.
The attacks were also described as a "major setback" for the peace process between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
"The High Commissioner of Pakistan was called to the Ministry of External Affairs this evening. He was informed that the recent terrorist attack on Mumbai was carried out by elements from Pakistan," a statement said.
Strong action expected
In New Delhi's first formal complaint to Islamabad, India said it "expects that strong action would be taken against those elements, whosoever they may be, responsible for this outrage".
A Jewish centre was among the targets and eyewitnesses said some attackers singled out Britons and Americans in two luxury hotels. Civilians were also gunned down in a railway station, hospital and a cafe.
"What has happened is a grave setback to the process of normalisation of relations and the confidence-building measures," Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told AFP.
Officials said they are convinced the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, possible with assistance from sections within Pakistan's powerful spy service, staged the operation.
But Pakistan's government has denied it was in any way linked to the operation by the well-trained and well-financed attackers. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has urged India not to "over-react".
India and Pakistan have fought three wars and were on the brink of a fourth over a 2001 militant assault on the Indian parliament.
India's ruling Congress party said any response would be "carefully considered" but made it clear that a line had been crossed.
"We have been confronted by a rising tide of terrorism for some time but the attack in Mumbai was qualitatively different and calls for immediate and stern action," Congress party spokeswoman Jayanti Natarajan told reporters.
Rice urges Pakistani cooperation
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is due to visit India on Wednesday, said it was crucial that Pakistan exhibit "complete, absolute, total transparency and cooperation" with the Indian investigation into the attacks.
"What we are emphasising to the Pakistani government is the need to follow the evidence wherever it leads and to do so in the most committed and firmest possible way," she told reporters accompanying her on a trip to Europe.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino also said she had "heard nothing that says that the Pakistani government was involved," adding that US President George W Bush was briefed in the White House situation room on the Mumbai attacks.
Pakistan has repeatedly underlined that it is fighting its own battle against Islamist insurgents, who have taken their bloody campaign to the heart of the Pakistan capital and stressed the two nations have a common enemy.
Lashkar, which has been battling Indian troops in Kashmir, was banned by Pakistan in 2002.
Public outrage in India was fuelled on Monday by fresh reports that clear warnings of a coming assault were ignored.
The Hindustan Times said a captured Lashkar operative had told his Indian interrogators back in February that the militant group was planning an attack on Mumbai's five-star hotels.
Tension between India and Pakistan date to the post-independence partition of India in 1947 that created the Islamic state of Pakistan and led to horrific bloodletting between Muslims and Hindus.
India has also had its share of homegrown unrest, from Muslims to Maoists to Hindu extremists, and Indian officials have repeatedly declined to blame Pakistan directly for the Mumbai attacks.
[start_date] => 02 December 2008 | 07:07:44 AM
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[caption] => An Indian policeman takes cover during the Mumbai attacks. (AAP)
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[label] => India asks Pakistan for terror suspects
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[abstract] => Katie Anstee, who was shot in the Mumbai attacks on her first day in the Indian city, has returned home accompanied by her mother and a special medical team.
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Katie Anstee, who was shot in the Mumbai attacks on her first day in the Indian city, has returned home accompanied by her mother and a special medical team.
Ms Anstee, 24, returned to Sydney Airport on a Qantas flight, touching down at 6.05pm (AEDT) on Monday and has been taken by ambulance to North Shore Private Hospital.
A bullet broke Ms Anstee's femur bone and exited through the front of her thigh.
Her boyfriend David Coker, 23, has flesh wounds from bullets that grazed his legs in the terrorist attack which left at least 172 people dead including two Australians.
Candy Anstee flew to Mumbai to be with her daughter and accompanied the young couple on the return flight, which left Mumbai on Sunday night.
Anstee was cared for by a special medical team during the flight and will require further hospital treatment.
Her stretcher was loaded onto a lift taken to the plane doors a short time after the plane arrived, while an ambulance waited on the tarmac.
She was then put into the ambulance and taken from the airport.
Ms Anstee and Mr Coker had been in India for only a matter of hours when they were caught up in the deadly attacks.
They were at the start of an 11-week holiday to celebrate their graduation from the Australian National University in Canberra.
Shortly after Ms Anstee was taken from the plane, other Australian survivors of the Mumbai attacks starting coming through the airport's arrival hall.
Greeted by emotional family and friends, most were reluctant to speak to the waiting media.
However, Sydney lawyer David Jacobs, who was trapped in the Oberoi Hotel during the ordeal, made a plea for people to live in peace.
"We need the world to have a greater understanding of the concerns that we each have," he told reporters.
""We've got to stop killing each other."
One woman, who tearfully hugged her family, said she would overcome her horrific experience.
"Love is stronger than terrorism," said the woman who did not want to be named.
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[articledate] => 1 December 2008
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