Rice pushes Pakistan, seeks to curb India response

By Sue Pleming

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Pakistan to cooperate fully in the probe into the Mumbai attacks but she also warned India against any action that could stoke regional conflict.

In a delicate balancing act aimed at curbing tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, Rice said she had gone to India to show the Bush administration's solidarity and empathy with the Indian people after the attacks on Mumbai that killed nearly 200 people, including six Americans.

"This is the time for everybody to cooperate," Rice told a news conference in New Delhi late on Wednesday.

But she stressed Pakistan must help India in its investigation into the attacks on the financial hub last week.

"Pakistan has a special responsibility to do so and should do so transparently, fully, urgently and that is the message that we have delivered (to Pakistan)," she said.

India's Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee had harsh words for Pakistan, linking groups based there to the attacks in which Indians and foreigners were targeted. U.S. officials have also blamed groups based wholly or partially in Pakistan.

"I informed Dr. Rice there is no doubt that the terrorist attacks in Mumbai were perpetrated by individuals who came from Pakistan and whose controllers are in Pakistan," said Mukherjee, with Rice at his side.

Rice said if "non-state actors" were responsible, then it was Pakistan's responsibility to take tough action against them and cooperate in bringing the perpetrators to justice.