Stage set for Krishna-Qureshi meet

India will step up pressure on Islamabad to speed up the probe into the 26/11 terror attacks and bring the perpetrators of the carnage, including JuD chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed, to justice when External Affairs Minister S M Krishna meets with his Pakistani counterpart in New York today.

Ahead of the meeting, he said the Mumbai attacks would be the "focal point" of his talks with Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

"There cannot be any justification whatsoever for such mindless (26/11) terrorist acts. It is our collective responsibility and duty to work together to ensure that terrorists, organisers, perpetrators and supporters of such crimes are brought to justice," Krishna said.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir held talks last evening on the margins of the annual UN General Assembly session, the first high-level contact between the two sides since the Prime Ministers of the two countries met at the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh in July.