Ruling out Pakistan’s suggestion for a joint investigation into the Samjhauta Express blasts, India today said information regarding the probe will be shared with Islamabad when the anti-terror mechanism meets early next month.

Addressing a joint press conference with his Pakistan counterpart Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India was determined to bring to book those behind the train attack. Kasuri described the attack as a “horrendous tragedy” and an “act of heinous crime” which “underlines the need for cooperation” between the two countries in fighting terrorism. “As per the law of the land, investigation is being carried out by India. We will carry on this investigation. Perpetrators of this heinous crime will be brought to book,” Mukherjee said. He was responding to a question in the wake of Pakistan Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid’s suggestion that his country be involved in the investigations. Mukherjee said the joint anti-terror mechanism will meet in Islamabad on March six and it was the appropriate forum for sharing and acting on such information.

Kasuri said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during his telephonic talk with his Pakistani counterpart Shaukat Aziz on Monday, had assured that results of the investigation will be shared with Islamabad. He said he hoped that during the upcoming anti-terror mechanism meeting, the attack on Samjhauta Express will be “high on the agenda” and information will be shared with Islamabad.

Asked by a Pakistani journalist about Haryana Police having blamed Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for the blasts, Mukherjee said the probe was still on and he did not want to “conjecture anything”. He hoped that the anti-terror mechanism meeting would be “meaningful”.

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