Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday the peace process with Pakistan would remain on hold unless it prosecuted those behind last year’s attacks on Mumbai.
Pakistan and India began a slow-moving peace process in February 2004 but it came to a halt after New Delhi blamed the November attacks, in which 166 people were killed, on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
New Delhi has said it has “overwhelming evidence” that “official agencies” in Pakistan were involved in plotting and carrying out the attacks, an apparent reference to Pakistan’s spy agency and army.
“Our minimum demand is that Pakistan must take effective steps to bring the culprits of the Mumbai attack to book before we can resume the talks,” Singh told reporters in Chennai, where he was campaigning in India’s general elections.
India has in the past accused Pakistan of not doing enough to dismantle training camps and infrastructure on its soil allegedly used for launching attacks across their common border.
Singh also said the threat of extremism in Pakistan, whose military has launched a full-scale offensive against Taliban militants in the northwest of the country, was of concern to the entire region.
“We wish Pakistan well in its fight against the Taliban, not only in the interest of Pakistan, but also in the interest of South Asia,” he said.
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