Indo-Pak talks only possible if Mumbai accused successfully prosecuted: Miliband

Islamabad, July 9 (ANI): The resumption of the stalled peace talks between India and Pakistan rests on the successful prosecution of the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband has said.

Addressing a joint press conference with his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Miliband said the thaw in Indo-Pak relation is directly related to the trial of the Mumbai terror attack masterminds.

"In respect of the restarting the frozen dialogue process, the key next step is the successful prosecution of the people who are involved in the Mumbai attacks," The Nation quoted Miliband, as saying.

Miliband said the Mumbai issue is very critical for confidence building between India and Pakistan.

He asked Islamabad to speed-up its probe on the issue, and said that the perpetrators should be duly punished.

"It is important that the Pakistan government moves faster and punishes the culprits if they are found guilty within the Pakistani legal system," Milibad said.

Commenting on the Kashmir issue, Miliband said that the long pending dispute needed to be resolved with mutual consent.

"The dialogue needs to be held in light of aspirations of Kashmiris and it is needed to resolve the problem with mutual discussion," he said.

Miliband, who arrived in Multan on a one-day visit on Wednesday, said Britain would continue its support to Pakistan, and added that it will help Islamabad to improve its relationship with the European Union.

Referring to the EU summit held last month, Miliband said: "The historic summit two weeks ago was very important. The whole of the 27 European Union countries and 500 million people are now increasingly focused on Pakistan."

He rejected reports about British arms falling into the Taliban's hands, but admitted the fact that there is a general global problem regarding the spread of illegal arms. (ANI)