India will not resume talks with Pakistan on normalizing bilateral relations until those responsible for last year's terrorist attacks in Mumbai are brought to justice, a senior Indian diplomat said on Tuesday.
India earlier demanded that Islamabad prosecute the organizers of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks and eliminate terrorist groups acting against India, as a precondition for a resumption of dialogue between the countries.
"Despite calls from Pakistan for a resumption of dialogue, India will stick to its position - there will be no talks until Pakistan takes serious action against the masterminds of the November 26 attack, and against terrorist organizations," Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor told reporters in New Delhi.
The minister said that law enforcers in Pakistan have captured seven people in connection with the series of attacks, in which at least 166 people were killed over three days. He called for "a vigorous prosecution against them."
A year after the Mumbai assault, a special anti-terrorist court was set up in a Pakistani jail to hear the case of the seven suspects being held in custody. Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a founding member of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group fighting against India, was charged with masterminding the attack.
Tharoor also said India "would like others to be caught". India has said another Lashkar-e-Taiba founder, Hafiz Saeed, was the true mastermind of the deadly attack, but Pakistan has said that there is not enough evidence for a credible case against him.
"We are ready for dialogue with Pakistan, but they must demonstrate that they are serious," the diplomat said.
NEW DELHI, December 22 (RIA Novosti)
