New Delhi - Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated on Wednesday with New Delhi warning that it would "act decisively" to protect its citizens, saying the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks that claimed 171 lives had come from Pakistan. "The government of India is determined to act decisively to protect the territorial integrity of India and the right of our citizens to a peaceful life with all means at our disposal," India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in New Delhi.
Mukherjee in his discussions with Rice said he had informed her that was "no doubt that the attacks were perpetrated by individuals who came from Pakistan and whose controllers are in Pakistan".
On Monday, India summoned the Pakistan envoy to New Delhi, Shahid Malik, to inform him the Mumbai attacks were carried out by elements based in Pakistan and demanded action against militant outfits on its soil that had targeted India.
Indian security agencies have said the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e- Taiba militant group was behind the attacks.
Indian authorities also gave a list of 20 suspected fugitives to Pakistani envoy in India demanding their repatriation. The list included Masood Azhar, a leader of the Islamic militant Jaish-e- Mohammed group, and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed.
