Pakistan is committed to bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice and India should cooperate with it in the probe into the terrorist assault, Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Indian envoy Sharat Sabharwal today. Sabharwal, who sought the meeting with Malik, was briefed by Malik on Pakistan's probe into the attacks that killed over 180 people in November last year.
Pakistan is committed to bringing the perpetrators of the attacks to justice and is sincere about pursuing the case against them, official sources quoted Malik as telling the Indian envoy.
Five Lashker-e-Toiba operatives, including Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah, are currently facing trial in a Pakistani anti-terror court for the alleged involvement in the attacks.
Malik made it clear this would be a "complicated and long process" and there is a need for India and Pakistan to work together to take the investigation forward, the sources told PTI.
It is understood that the recent release from detention of Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed on the order of the Lahore High Court also figured in the discussions between Malik and Sabharwal.
Saeed was put under house arrest in December last year after the UN Security Council declared the JuD a front for the LeT, which is blamed by India for the Mumbai attacks.
India has expressed concern at the release of Saeed, saying it raised questions about Pakistan's sincerity in tackling terrorism emanating from its soil. Pakistan has said that the country's judiciary is independent and that it intends to appeal against the High Court's order.
The talks between Malik and Sabharwal came three days ahead of a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Asif Ali Zardari on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Russia.
