India talks tough with Pakistan over Mumbai terror

Angered by terror strikes in Mumbai, India on Friday bluntly told Pakistan that its intention to take a leap in bilateral relations would be impossible if outrages like the attacks in the financial capital do not stop.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told his visiting Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi that he hoped Islamabad would take immediate action with regard to the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Qureshi received the call from Mukherjee in the midst of a press conference he was addressing at the Indian Women Press Corps in New Delhi.

The External Affairs Minister said while the government of Pakistan has said that it wants a leap forward in relations between the two countries, "outrages like the attack on our Embassy in Kabul and now the attack on Mumbai are intended to make it impossible."

Mukherjee said some elements in Pakistan were responsible for the terror strikes in Mumbai in which over 150 people were killed and several hundreds injured.

"The groups responsible and their supporters, are therefore, also acting against the direct interests of the government of Pakistan," Mukherjee told Qureshi.

He said India expected Pakistan to honour its solemn commitments not to permit the use of its territory for terrorism against India. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked his Pakistan counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani to sent Inter Services Intelligence chief Shuja Pasha "to cooperate in the investigations of the Mumbai attack and for sharing certain certain information".

Pasha is expected to visit India soon.