Pakistan, India deeply divided over Mumbai attacks

Updated December 2, 2008 10:00:57

The Indian government has demanded that Pakistan takes decisive action over militants operating out of the country. New Delhi says last week's deadly attacks in Mumbai which killed 195 people, were carried out by militants from Pakistan. The accusation comes ahead of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has promised his country's full cooperation, but there's growing anger in Mumbai after the attacks.

Presenter: Karon Snowdon
Speaker: G Pattasarathi, former Indian high commissoner to Pakistan; V. Raman, former head of the Counter Terrorism Division of India's External Intelligence Agency; Samina Ahhmed, South Asia Project Director for the International Crisis Group.

KARON SNOWDON: The city of Mumbai tried to get back to normal on Monday as schools and offices reopened for the first time since the assault began last Wednesday. Funerals took place throughout the city. Most of the almost 200 victims were Indians who died at the train station, the restaurant and the two hotels. The minister responsible for homeland security has been forced to resign while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called for national unity in the face of the outrage. Pakistan President Ali Asif Zardari has condemned the Mumbai attack and the told the 'Financial Times' newspaper, "Militants have the power to precipitate a war." The two nations came close to conflict as recently as 2001 after an attack on the Indian parliament was blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Former high commissioner to Pakistan G. Parthasarthy says the relationship with Pakistan is set to nose-dive.

G. PARTHASARATHY: Things will be set for a downturn. 200 Indians and foreigners are killed and mayhem let loose on our financial capital. Can you imagine what that would have been if it happened to Melbourne. We're not going to take too kindly to this.

KARON SNOWDON: High level diplomacy is being stepped up. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will stop in India on Wednesday, signaling hopes conflict will be avoided. Also the US will be the intermediary for much intelligence gathering from Pakistan and possibly Afghanistan. Pakistan's Ambassador to the US has warned troops will be moved to the border if tensions with India escalate. B. Raman, the former head of the Counter-Terrorism Division of India's external intelligence agency, believes the Pakistani military is hoping to exploit the situation.

BAHUKUTUMBI RAMAN: Look, Pakistan is...this is the kind of blackmail they always do. By this kind of thing they're hoping to make the Americans put pressure on India to enable them to fold their interests to take more interest in the Kashmir problem. So this kind of blackmail, they always do, it's not the first time I hope the United States see through it. Americans understand Pakistan quite well.

KARON SNOWDON: Mr Raman says a lot of anger in India is directed at the Indian Government.

BAHUKUTUMBI RAMAN: The public anger is directed at, yeah, the government of India, the government of Manmohan Singh for not actually preventing this act of terrorism, for not actually investigating the Delhi blast, they think that if the blast had been properly investigated this thing might not have happened. That is one public anger, against the government. There's other public anger against Pakistan. People are saying the Indian policy is soft, the Americans can go and bomb in the tribal areas, why can't we bomb, why don't they go and bomb them. I think they may be able to deflect that pressure.

KARON SNOWDON: Both countries have been working towards improving relations since 2004 and especially since a civilian government emerged in Pakistan. Despite ongoing security concerns, and tensions over Kashmir, civilian intelligence agencies have been expanding cooperation - as the Mumbai attacks took place, they'd been in talks about establishing a hot line between the services. Samina Ahmed South Asia project director for the International Crisis Group, based in Islamabad, says both governments must not let the process be derailed and now contact between the military intelligence agency is even more important.

SAMINA AHMED: Absolutely. I mean that is going to be the crucial issue. These people, these organisations, these groups form...they are as much and if not even more of a threat to the Pakistani state and the Pakistani citizens. So it is in fact in India and Pakistan's interest to make sure that you do not have groups such as these managing to cause the kind of damage we saw in Mumbai and the kinds of attacks that have in Pakistan deprived, you know, the ruling party of its leader.