American, Chinese foreign ministers call up Pranab

Amid a chill in Indo-Pak ties, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi called up External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and discussed the situation arising out of Mumbai terror attacks.

During the telephonic conversations on Thursday night, Mukherjee is understood to have conveyed to his counterparts that Pakistan was not doing enough against those behind the Mumbai carnage.

He is believed to have told Rice and the Chinese Foreign Minister to put pressure on Pakistan to ensure that those responsible for the Mumbai attacks are brought to justice. Rice is understood to have conveyed to Mukherjee that the US is keen to see that the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks are punished and is persuading Pakistan to act in concrete terms in this regard.

Though most countries, including the US and the UK, are convinced that Lashkar-e-Taiba was responsible for the attacks, Pakistan has been in a denial mode.

New Delhi believes that the US has the leverage with Pakistan that it can use to make that country act against those involved in the terror strikes. India also feels that China, being a very close friend of Pakistan, also can influence that country to act