Pakistan acknowledged today that the November Mumbai attacks were partly plotted on their soil, and said that they had begun criminal proceedings against eight suspected of involvement. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the move would assure the international community “that we mean business.”
India’s foreign ministry lauded the move as “a positive development,” but also urged Pakistan to dismantle what it referred to as “the infrastructure of terrorism” in the nation. Mumbai’s police chief said they had given the Pakistani government the names of 16 people involved in the attacks. Nine were killed, one is currently held by India. It is unclear if the other six are among those facing charges in Pakistan.
The Indian government has repeatedly accused the Pakistani government of direct involvement in the 2008 terrorist attacks, and the rising tensions have brought the two countries seemingly to the brink of war.