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”.

Kasuri, who yesterday went straight to Safdarjung Hospital from airport on his arrival here to meet Pakistanis injured in the explosions, expressed his gratitude to the doctors there for taking “good care” of the patients.

After the 5th Joint Commission meeting co-chaired by Mukherjee and Kasuri, the two sides also signed an agreement on reducing the risk from accidents related to nuclear weapons. On Siachen, Kasuri said Pakistan had proposed early meeting of Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs). Mukherjee, while saying that dates for such a meeting would be worked out later, noted that various proposals have been received from Pakistan and “we are ready to discuss each and every proposal”.

Mukherjee said nine rounds of discussions have been held on Siachen and the fourth round of Composite Dialogue will start on March 13 with the meeting of Foreign Secretaries in Islamabad during which the issue will be discussed further.

The External Affairs Minister also gave to Kasuri a list of relatives of Indian Prisoners of War (PoWs) who want to visit Pakistan to look for their near and dear ones believed to be lodged in jails there. Pakistan had agreed in January to allow relatives of Indian PoWs to visit prisons there. Pakistan proposed the names of four persons to be included in the joint committee of retired judges that the two countries agreed to set up to look into the issues of prisoners in the respective countries. India conveyed that it was in the process of finalising the names for the committee.