India, Pak cooperation essential, says Pakistan

Seeking a resumption of the Composite Dialogue with India as early as possible after it was stalled due to the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan has said cooperation between the two countries would be crucial for the "successful prosecution of the culprits" behind the terror strikes.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, while talking to reporters at the airport in his hometown of Multan on Saturday, described the cooperation between the two countries "as the key to ensuring successful prosecution of the culprits" involved in the Mumbai attacks.

Later, Qureshi told a press conference in Multan that he was hopeful that the sharing of the findings of Pakistan's investigation into the Mumbai attacks with India would defuse tensions between the two countries.

He said senior officials of the Interior and Law Ministries were reviewing a report submitted by a team from the Federal Investigation

Agency that had looked into India's dossier on the Mumbai attacks.

Replying to a query about a statement by Pakistan's High Commissioner to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hassan that the Mumbai attacks were not planned within Pakistan, Qureshi said that Hassan had made the comment "in haste".

He said Pakistan was seriously investigating the matter and intended to take necessary action. Pakistan wanted the resumption of the Composite Dialogue with India as early as possible, but "realistically speaking India and the rest of the (world) are looking at us (to see) what action we take and we are moving forward in the right direction," he said.

Noting that terrorists were the common enemies of India and Pakistan, Qureshi said it was essential to resolve the Kashmir issue to achieve "durable peace" in the region. "It is our desire that the Kashmir dispute be resolved through a comprehensive dialogue."