India summons Pakistan's envoy, toughens posture on Mumbai terror(Lead)

With strong links emerging about the alleged complicity of Pakistan-based militants to Mumbai's bloody terror attacks, India Monday summoned Pakistan's high commissioner in New Delhi Shahid Malik and lodged a protest over Islamabad's failure to check terrorism springing from its territory.

Malik was called by Vivek Katju, Special Secretary (Political and International Organizations) in the external affairs ministry. New Delhi served a demarche to Islamabad over the Nov 26 Mumbai terror strikes in which India says it has strong circumstantial evidence about the hand of Pakistan-based militants.

Preliminary investigations into the Mumbai terror strikes that paralysed the city for nearly three days, killing 183 people, have revealed that terrorists came to Mumbai via sea route in Karachi. The interrogation of the lone surviving terrorist has also disclosed that the Mumbai terror plot was hatched in Pakistan, according to intelligence agencies. The arrested militant, Ajmal Qasab, has confessed that he was trained at a camp in Pakistan by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned militant outfit which was created by Pakistan's ISI to foment insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir

The Pakistani government has vehemently denied any link with the Mumbai blasts, but has not ruled out the possibility of the involvement of "non-state actors" in the brazen terror strikes that threaten to escalate tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

"Such a tragic incident must bring opportunity rather than the defeat of a nation," Zardari said Monday in an interview with a Pakistani news channel. "We don't think the world's great nations and countries can be held hostage by non-state actors."

Zardari has demanded evidence linking elements in Pakistan to the Mumbai terror strikes and assured to take strictest action against them.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has called for a meeting of all political party leaders Tuesday to evolve a consensus on Pakistan's policy towards India in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks.

Pakistan's prime minister, president and foreign minister have also launched a diplomatic offensive to convince Western countries that the Pakistani state did not have a hand in the terror strikes in India.

Last updated on Dec 1^st, 2008 at 21:01 pm IST--IANS