India: No military plans

2008-12-16 19:41

New Delhi - India said on Tuesday it was not planning military action against Pakistan in response to the deadly Mumbai attacks but warned that its relationship with its rival would not be "normal" until Islamabad takes action against militants.

India's foreign minister later said there had been a "pause" in peace talks.

Indian authorities have blamed the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the three-day siege that left 164 dead in Mumbai last month.

Pakistan has arrested a senior Lashkar leader who was the suspected mastermind of the attacks and shuttered the offices of a charity linked to Lashkar. Authorities there say they will prosecute anyone allegedly involved in the attacks in their own courts.

But Indian leaders have said the moves are not sufficient and have called on Pakistan to do more to dismantle the terror network they claim is well-established in that country.

Defense Minister AK Antony said India was "not planning any military action" against Pakistan but urged Islamabad to crack down on militants thought to be based within its borders.

"Unless Pakistan takes actions against those terrorists who are operating on their soil against India ... things will not be normal," Antony told reporters on Tuesday.

Pause

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, meanwhile, told reporters in Indian-ruled Kashmir that "there has been a pause between India and Pakistan" in the peace talks between the two rivals.

He gave no details, but also urged Pakistan to crack down on the militants.

In the weeks since the November 26 attacks, tensions have been high between India and Pakistan, but India's prime minister, along with other senior leaders, have said they are not preparing for war.

The attacks killed 26 foreigners, and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have visited New Delhi and Islamabad to cool tensions in the region, and to press Pakistan to cooperate in the investigation.

Brown asked for access to the suspects detained in Pakistan during a visit to Islamabad on Sunday. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said he turned him down.

According to Gilani's office, the Pakistani prime minister said in parliament that he told Brown that "if there were any proofs, these persons will be prosecuted under the law of Pakistan."

Brown also has asked India to let British police question the only gunman captured alive during the Mumbai attacks. India has made no public response.

Reservations resume

Meanwhile, the two five-star Mumbai hotels attacked and held under siege are taking reservations and will partially reopen for business this weekend, their managers said Tuesday.

Images of flames leaping from a dome of the old Taj Mahal hotel quickly became an icon of the three-day attack, which left 164 dead before ending on November 29.

The new wing of the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi's Trident hotel have beefed up security and are accepting reservations for Sunday and onwards, managers said.

The Oberoi has upgraded its security because "we cannot depend on local law enforcement agencies," Narain said.

Ratan Tata, chairperson of the company that owns the Taj Mahal hotel, criticised the government's response to the attacks as slow and ineffective. He vowed to upgrade the hotel's security with help from overseas.

"We have decided that we would look at the protection of our assets and our people ourselves," Tata said Monday during a panel discussion on CNBC TV18. "We'll seek external expertise to help us."

- SAPA