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India-Pakistan row clouds summit Pakistan to probe embassy bombing
(about 7 hours later)
The prime ministers of India and Pakistan are set to meet on the sidelines of a regional summit in Sri Lanka, amid a worsening political row. Pakistan has offered to investigate a bomb attack on India's embassy in Kabul last month that killed more than 50 people, India's foreign secretary says.
Pakistan has denied allegations its spies helped bomb the Indian embassy in Afghanistan, and there have been renewed border tensions over Kashmir. The announcement followed talks between the two countries' prime ministers at a South Asian summit in Sri Lanka.
The row threatens to overshadow the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (Saarc) summit in Colombo. Pakistan has come under pressure over claims, which it denies, that its spy agency was involved in the bombing.
Eight nations are meeting to discuss issues including terrorism and poverty. Earlier, the Indian foreign secretary said relations had deteriorated to their worst level for four years.
Leaders from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal and Afghanistan are involved in the talks, along with the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers. The leaders are attending the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (Saarc) summit in Colombo along with leaders from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal.
'Total rubbish' "(Pakistani) Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani said he would conduct an independent investigation," Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said.
On Friday, Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said dialogue with Pakistan was in "a state where it hasn't been in the past four years". Ceasefire violation?
India's Manmohan Singh will meet Pakistan's Yousuf Raza Gilani Mr Gilani met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday.
"We face a situation where things have happened in the recent past which were unfortunate," he said. Tensions between Pakistan and India - Saarc's biggest and most powerful members - have been exacerbated by a series of bomb attacks on Indian cities and continued hostilities in the disputed border area of Kashmir.
Officials from India and Afghanistan have publicly accused elements in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of involvement in last month's Kabul embassy attack, which killed 41 people and injured 141. Tensions between Pakistan and India have overshadowed the summit
India has accused Pakistan of violating a ceasefire accord in Kashmir, and troops from both sides traded gunfire earlier this week.
Addressing the summit, Mr Gilani condemned last month's Kabul embassy attack, in which two senior Indian diplomats died, and some 150 people were injured.
Officials from India and Afghanistan have publicly accused elements in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of involvement in the attack.
On Friday, newspaper reports in the US quoted Washington sources levelling the same accusations against the ISI.On Friday, newspaper reports in the US quoted Washington sources levelling the same accusations against the ISI.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry issued another denial, describing the claims as "total rubbish".Pakistan's Foreign Ministry issued another denial, describing the claims as "total rubbish".
Tensions between Pakistan and India - Saarc's biggest and most powerful members - have also been exacerbated by continued hostilities in the disputed border area of Kashmir.
India has accused Pakistan of violating a ceasefire accord in Kashmir, and troops from both sides traded gunfire earlier this week.
Terrorism issuesTerrorism issues
Heavy security is in place for the Colombo conference, as fighting in Sri Lanka's decades-long civil conflict continues. While food security and trying to improve the lot of the poor are on the agenda at the Colombo summit, correspondents say the key issue is whether the Saarc countries can work together to fight crime and terrorism.
Tamil Tiger rebels declared a unilateral ceasefire throughout the talks - but the government rejected the truce. The use of militant radicalism as instrument of policy cannot succeed or serve any long term purpose Hamid KarzaiPresident of Afghanistan
There were reports of new military battles in rebel-held areas in the run-up to the summit. On Saturday, the eight leaders called for a joint effort to combat terrorism.
The key issue under discussion at the talks will be whether the Saarc countries can help each other to fight crime, including terrorism. Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the meeting that terrorism and its sanctuaries were gaining a deeper grip in Pakistan, and called for "collective action to wipe out terrorism in the region".
Food security and trying to improve the lot of the poor will feature too. "While the region has to deal with a myriad of serious problems such as chronic poverty, food and energy shortages, environmental degradation and the like, terrorism is by far the greatest and most menacing of all," he said.
The region is home to the one-fifth of of the world's population, but hundreds of millions of South Asians live in poverty. Fierce fighting
Analysts say since Saarc was founded in 1985, the group's summits have been long on rhetoric but short on follow-up action. Heavy security is in place for the Colombo conference, with almost 20,000 police and troops deployed to guard delegates as fighting in Sri Lanka's decades-long civil conflict continues.
Tamil Tiger rebels declared a unilateral ceasefire throughout the talks, but the government rejected the truce.
Security has been massively stepped up in Colombo for the summit
There were reports of new military battles in rebel-held areas in the island's north, with the Sri Lankan military saying at least 11 of its soldiers had been killed in fierce fighting.
South Asia is home to the one-fifth of the world's population, but hundreds of millions of South Asians live in poverty.
Since Saarc was founded in 1985, the group's summits have been long on rhetoric but short on follow-up action, analysts say.
The regional grouping has often been overshadowed by tension and hostility between India and Pakistan.The regional grouping has often been overshadowed by tension and hostility between India and Pakistan.