British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Tuesday the Pakistan state had not directed the attacks on Mumbai, but urged Islamabad to fulfil its promise to root out Islamic militant groups.
On a visit to show solidarity with India after the November siege in which gunmen killed 165 people, Miliband said Pakistan must act against the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group widely blamed for the attacks.
"I have said publicly that I do not believe the attacks were directed by the Pakistani state," Miliband told reporters in New Delhi.
"What is relevant is the approach of the Pakistani state to the LeT and the way the Pakistani state takes on the menace of the LeT."
India blames the LeT for training, equipping and financing the 10 gunmen who opened fire with automatic weapons and threw hand grenades at locations across Mumbai including luxury hotels and the main train station.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said last week the Mumbai assaults, which lasted three days, had the support of "some official agencies" in Pakistan, and said Islamabad used terrorism as an "instrument of state policy."
Pakistan has angrily rejected the allegations, accusing its nuclear-armed rival of embarking on a "propaganda offensive" that was "fraught with grave risks."
The United States, which has also backed India's accusations against the LeT, recently praised Pakistan for its crackdown on Islamists since the Mumbai attacks but has made similar demands as Miliband.
Miliband stressed that the men arrested in Pakistan must face trial.
"It is important that those who have been arrested be brought to justice," Miliband told a news conference after talks with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee.
Miliband's comments came a week after New Delhi said it had handed over a dossier of evidence linking what it has called "elements in Pakistan" to the Mumbai attackers.
India has also launched an diplomatic offensive to maintain international pressure on Islamabad, which has so far rejected New Delhi's demands to extradite a list of terrorist suspects.
"It is in Pakistan's interests" to act against the rebel groups on its soil, Miliband said, noting that "the modern threat to Pakistan comes from within its borders."
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