India, U.S. Official Discuss Mumbai Attack Probe

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on Friday (12th December) discussed with Indian officials investigations into last month's attack on Mumbai and urged Pakistan and other countries to help.

The attack, which India blames on militant groups in Pakistan, has jeopardized improving relations between the two neighbors and threatened to divert Pakistan's military from a U.S.-led anti-militant campaign on its Afghan border.

Negroponte met Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan to discuss security and what India says is evidence of Pakistan's complicity in the Mumbai attack that killed 179 people.

In a statement in New Delhi Negroponte said that the total concentration at this moment is on investigating those attacks and to bring those responsible for this attack to account. He also said that Indian Government is taking lead in this matter but US and its diplomatic partners actively cooperating to fight terror.

Negroponte's visit came days after his boss Condoleezza Rice told Indian leaders she saw evidence of involvement from Pakistani soil, possibly of non-state actors, in the three-day rampage in India's financial capital by 10 heavily armed gunmen.

The United States has pressured Pakistan to take action against those responsible for the attack and dismantle militant networks it has used in the past to fight India.