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ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Monday his government remained committed to punishing Pakistani nationals accused of taking part in the Mumbai attacks if "credible" evidence is given against them.
Gilani made the comments during talks with Richard Boucher, the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, who arrived in Islamabad early Monday in a bid to defuse simmering tensions between Pakistan and India.
Gilani spoke of "Pakistan's persistent efforts to defuse the current tensions with India, and his government's commitment to take action against any Pakistani national in case credible evidence is provided," his office said.
Earlier Monday, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that New Delhi had handed over to Islamabad what it said was evidence linking the Islamic militants who carried out the late November attacks to "elements in Pakistan".
Pakistan said it had received the dossier and was reviewing it.
New Delhi has blamed the attacks -- which left 172 people dead, including nine of the gunmen -- on the banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is fighting Indian rule in divided Kashmir.
Islamabad had repeatedly said that India had not provided any evidence linking the Mumbai attackers with Pakistan.
Mukherjee said the Indian dossier included details of the interrogation of Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman -- also known as Mohammed Ajmal Kasab -- who is the lone surviving gunman and who India says is a Pakistani national.
It also details the militants' communications with "elements" in Pakistan during the attack, recovered weapons and other equipment, retrieved global positioning system data and satellite phones.
Following the attacks, a number of US officials have visited both Pakistan and India - including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her deputy John Negroponte - in a bid to defuse tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Boucher, who arrived in Pakistan early Monday, also met with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and President Asif Ali Zardari, who gave him an award for his service to Pakistan.
Zardari said Boucher had been "instrumental in promoting a stable, broad-based and long-term Pakistan-US relationship," the Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reported.
Boucher was scheduled to give a press conference later Monday.
Gilani and Boucher also discussed Pakistan's ongoing cooperation in the US-led "war on terror," with the US diplomat quoted by Gilani's office as saying Washington "fully appreciated Pakistan's difficulties in the fight against terror."
Officials in Washington and Kabul have repeatedly said in the past that Pakistan is not doing enough to crack down on Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants in its rugged tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan.
The United States and Afghanistan say the militants maintain bases in Pakistan, from which they plan and launch attacks on Afghan and foreign forces across the border.
Indian media reported that Boucher was also due in New Delhi, but officials were not immediately available to confirm his itinerary.
- AFP/ir
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