India demands Pakistan action

India told Pakistan yesterday it was awaiting “decisive” action against the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks as the country marked the third anniversary of the carnage that claimed 166 lives.

Pakistan’s efforts to prosecute those behind the Mumbai attacks are a ‘facade’

The 2008 attacks in Mumbai saw 10 heavily armed Islamist gunmen storm a host of targets including luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and a train station.

“We are still waiting for Pakistan to act decisively to bring to justice the perpetrators of the mindless violence that was unleashed on Mumbai,” Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna told reporters in New Delhi.

India has alleged that Pakistan’s efforts to prosecute those behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks are a “facade” – an allegation rejected by Islamabad.

India’s Supreme Court has stayed the death sentence handed down to the lone surviving gunman involved in the attack, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, pending an appeal hearing.

In Mumbai, meanwhile, wreaths were placed at a police memorial and a minute’s silence observed in memory of the 18 security personnel who were killed during the three-day siege. A total of 166 people were killed. India blamed Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant outfit for training, equipping and financing the attack with support from “elements” in the Pakistanmilitary.

At the same time yesterday, Krishna said New Delhi wanted to live in peace with its neighbours.

“We call upon all our neighbours to join us in this endeavour of building a better future for our people,” he said.

New Delhi has only recently resumed peace talks with Pakistan, its longtime foe, that it put on hold after the attacks and the two sides have taken strides to fully normalising two-way trade in a sign of warming ties.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them triggered by their territorial dispute over Kashmir, which has repeatedly eluded previous attempts at reaching a comprehensive peace deal.

India and Pakistan are jockeying for influence in Afghanistan ahead of the planned US troop withdrawal and Washington sees stable India-Pakistan ties as crucial to Afghanistan’s post-war viability.