India

No military action against Pakistan, new intelligence reforms

Article published on the 2008-12-11 Latest update 2008-12-11 14:29 TU

Indian policemen stand guard at a police complex believed to be housing the lone surviving gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab.
(Photo: Reuters)

India has said it believes Pakistan is at the "epicentre" of the recent attacks on Mumbai, but Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee says that military action is "not the solution".

Mukherjee said the government is expecting decisive action from its neighbour and has detailed a list of 40 suspects that it wants the Pakistani government to hand over.

Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram also made a statement to parliament concerning intelligence and security reforms intended to prevent future attacks.

This includes the creation of 20 counterinsurgency schools which will train commandos to combat militants.

But some commentators are sceptical about the Indian government's conviction. "Nobody is looking at the magnitude of the challenge, [...] we need a complete revamp of technologies, I don't see that happening," said Ajai Sahani of the Institute of Conflict Management.

"Almost everything that is spoken of right now, has been proposed before," Sahani told RFI from New Delhi.

The last surviving gunman from the Mumbai attacks, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman, was put on remand for another two weeks Thursday following his arrest on the first night of the attacks.

Iman who is a Pakistani national was allegedly involved in killing around 80 people at the railway station. According to Indian authorities he is part of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a group fighting Indian control in Kashmir.

International pressure on Pakistan is increasing and US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte met with President Asif Ali Zardari Thursday in a bid to improve diplomacy with India and to encourage action against Pakistani-based militants.