Rice presses for quick Pak action on Mumbai
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Pakistan yesterday to "cooperate fully and transparently" with India's investigation into last week's Islamic militant attacks on Mumbai.
Speaking in the Indian capital ahead of talks with Indian leaders, Rice urged Pakistan to respond "swiftly and transparently" to New Delhi's accusations that the gunmen came from across the border.
Ties between the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals have become strained in the wake of the devastating assault on Mumbai, which left 188 people dead. The two countries have fought three wars since their 1947 independence from British rule.
“Pakistan needs to act with urgency and with resolve and cooperate fully and transparently," Rice told reporters prior to talks with Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"That message will be delivered to Pakistan," said Rice, who was expected to fly to Islamabad on Thursday.
Although she refused to "jump to any conclusions about who is responsible," US intelligence officials have suggested the assault was the work of the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
"This is a time for everyone to cooperate and to do so transparently, and especially a time for Pakistan to do so," she added.
Meanwhile, India's defense minister summoned the army, navy and air force chiefs Wednesday to warn them to be prepared for terror attacks from the air and the sea in the wake of growing criticism about slack security, missed warnings, and a bungled response to the Mumbai attacks.
In a stunning new example of botched security, police on Wednesday found explosives hidden in a bag in Mumbai's main train station, which they said were left over from last week's attacks.
The bomb squad defused the two four-kilogram (8-pound) bombs, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Bapu Domre, but it was not immediately clear why the bombs hadn't been found earlier.
Defence Minister AK Antony told his military chiefs that they needed to improve intelligence coordination so that security forces can act on all credible threats, according to a ministry statement.
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