India said yesterday that Pakistan's arrest of the leader of an Islamic militant group accused of plotting the attack on its parliament was a "step forward."
It then gave Pakistan a list of 20 other suspected terrorists it wants arrested and handed over to India.
Cross-border shelling between the two South Asian nuclear rivals resumed, meanwhile, leaving two Indian soldiers dead. Nine militants and one soldier were also killed in separate incidents near Srinagar, the summer capital of the disputed Kashmir region.
Hafiz Saeed, until last week the leader of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, was arrested Sunday in Islamabad, Interior Ministry officials said yesterday. He was charged with making inflammatory speeches and inciting violence, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
"The government has received information about action taken by Pakistan against the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, including the arrest of some of its leaders and raids on some of their premises," Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said. "If the information is confirmed, it's a step forward in the right direction."
He added, however, that Pakistan had far to go until New Delhi would be satisfied that Islamabad was committed to curbing the Islamic militants who launch terrorist attacks in India.
Later yesterday, India handed over to officials at the Pakistan High Commission a list of 20 suspected terrorists in Pakistan.
No deadline was given for the handing-over of the suspects, but India expected action "as soon as possible," Rao said.
India blames Pakistan's spy agency for masterminding the Dec. 13 suicide attack on the Indian Parliament. Fourteen people were killed, including five militants whom New Delhi claims were Pakistanis.
India claims that the Pakistan-based Islamic militant groups Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed orchestrated the attack. Pakistan says India has offered no evidence and is fabricating the charges to malign the Kashmir secessionist movement.
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