US official calls for joint action with India to fight terror

INDIA: A senior US State Department official called for joint action against terrorism, including against groups based in Pakistan.

Richard Boucher, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, arrived in India last week. He made the comments after meetings with business leaders and government officials.

"The two sides discussed joint efforts to fight terrorism and felt that terrorism should be fought in all places and all its forms," Boucher said after a three-hour meeting with government officials.

"We all know there is terrorism in the (South Asia) region. Some of the terorism is in Pakistan. Some of the groups that have designs against India still have pieces in Pakistan," he told reporters.

Indian police investigating deadly bombings on crowded commuter trains in Mumbai on July 11 have said radical Islamic outfits with links to Pakistan may have been responsible.

Police say the Students' Islamic Movement of India is suspected along with militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba in the Mumbai bombings that killed at least 183 people and injured nearly 900.

Lashkar, which is fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, has denied involvement in the blasts.

New Delhi, Tuesday, AFP