los angeles Times (US)

* In the end, such attacks come down to politics. This was a politically motivated assault on the Indian state, and the key to stopping such atrocities occurring again will be a political solution to the virulent scourge of militant Islamism. The Pakistani connection of the terrorists who brought carnage to Mumbai is growing steadily clearer. One captured attacker has reportedly admitted to belonging to the Kashmiri militant group, Lashkar-e-Toiba, which has been supported in the past by the Pakistani intelligence services... The new administration of President-elect Barack Obama must insist that this comes to an end, on pain of a termination of American aid deliveries to Pakistan. More urgently, America must use its influence with India and Pakistan to cool relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

The independent (UK)

* The world is afraid that India and Pakistan could take out their armies against each other and then helplessly watch the confrontation escalate into a nuclear standoff. This has happened before and the world had to come in and break the clinch. Why should the two go back to that... Pakistan is reacting to the Indian side’s allegations that the attackers had come from Pakistan. But much more than prima facie evidence is needed to connect all the dots. More significantly, the fact is that, even if they came from Pakistan, it proves nothing because Pakistan is fighting the same terrorists with a global outreach within its borders.

daily times (Pakistan)

* But there are complications. The most grave among these are the indications that the Pakistan military is not seeing eye-to-eye with the Government. The military high command is said to be upset over what it believes is the civilian Government’s failure to consult it on key decisions; the initial agreement to send the DG ISI to India, which was subsequently withdrawn, has added to the dangerous discord. The military set-up believes the government’s line is too soft and that it is giving way to India too readily (and this has been the case in the past with previous governments as well).

The news (Pakistan)

* How can their (India’s) Government have ignored the warning signs? A 2007 report to Parliament warned that the country’s shores were poorly protected — and some or all of the attackers arrived by boat. Why weren’t the police and the army better prepared to respond? Sharpshooters outside the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel did not have telescopic sights, so they could not get off a shot for fear of killing hostages rather than the terrorists.

The new york times (US)