Global Security Newswire

India delivered material to Pakistan today describing how "elements in Pakistan" supported the late-November terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced (see GSN, Dec. 23, 2008).

The information transfer followed weeks of complaints from Islamabad that its nuclear rival was asserting Pakistani links to the militants without offering any supporting documentation. The attacks killed nearly 200 people, including all but one of the 10 attackers.

New Delhi today delivered evidence that encompassed material derived from interrogations of the final attacker as well as information about phone calls the men made to Pakistan during the three days of violence, the Associated Press reported.

"This material is linked to elements in Pakistan," a Foreign Ministry statement said. "It is our expectation that the government of Pakistan will promptly undertake further investigations in Pakistan and share the results with us so as to bring the perpetrators to justice" (Sam Dolnick, Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Jan. 5).

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. diplomat was in Pakistan today to help to reduce tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad, Agence France-Presse reported.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher was scheduled to meet President Asif Ali Zardari as well as the Pakistani prime and foreign ministers (Agence France-Presse I/Google News, Jan. 5).

Boucher's visit follows New Year's Eve phone calls from U.S. President George W. Bush to Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, according to AFP.

Bush "urged both ... to cooperate with each other in the Mumbai attack investigation as well as on counterterrorism in general," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe. "All three leaders from the United States, India and Pakistan agreed that no one wanted to take any steps that unnecessarily raise tensions" (Agence France-Presse II/Google News, Dec. 31, 2008).