Manmohan Singh says Mumbai attacks must have had Pakistani support
Manmohan Singh says Mumbai attacks must have had Pakistani support
New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday Pakistan was whipping up war hysteria, and the Mumbai attacks must have had support from some official agencies within its nuclear-armed neighbour.
His comments came a day after India handed to Pakistan a dossier of "evidence" linking the attacks that killed 179 people to Pakistan.
Singh said the sophistication of the Mumbai siege means the attackers "must have had the support of some official agencies in Pakistan."
The Prime Minister, meeting with top officials of Indian states, says investigations have made clear that the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind the attack.
"Today even as Pakistan engages in whipping up war hysteria, our nation remains steadfastly united and if anything the process of national consolidation is becoming stronger," Singh told a security conference in New Delhi.
"The terrorist attack in Mumbai in November last year was carried out by a Pakistan-based outfit, the Lashkar-e-Taiba."
Singh did not directly name any Pakistani officials, but India has long blamed Pakistan's powerful spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, for being involved in attacks against India in recent years.
Indian leaders have stepped up the rhetoric in recent days about the possible involvement of Pakistani officials in the November siege in Mumbai.
Mumbai: Dossier of 'evidence'
Here is some of the evidence from the dossier:
- Confessions of surviving attacker: The smoking gun India says it has is Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving attacker who police say has confessed to being a Pakistani national. He also said the attackers were trained by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group and implicated top Lashkar leader, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who has been detained by Pakistan.
- Satellite phone intercepts and GPS Data: The dossier contains what India says are taped conversations between the attackers and their handlers in Pakistan.
- Weapons used by militants: The evidence also includes a list and photographs of guns and grenades used by the Mumbai attackers that bore markings linked to Pakistan's Nedi Frontier Arms company and Pakistan Ordnance Factory.
- List of Pakistani-made articles: India says the attackers left behind on a boat a number of items of daily use manufactured in Pakistan, including detergent powder, dental cream, a packet of wheat flour, toilet paper and clothes stitched in Pakistan.
- Reuters
