India and Pakistan discuss terror

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The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan have met on the sidelines of a summit in Egypt to discuss terrorism.

The talks come ahead of a key meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries during the Non-Aligned Movement summit.

Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani has said he will approach the meeting with an "an open heart and a positive mind".

Relations deteriorated after Delhi said gunmen involved in last November's Mumbai attacks were from Pakistan.

Ties between the two countries have been strained since the attacks in which more than 170 people died.

Pakistan has rejected Indian accusations that it has not done all it can to pursue those responsible for the Mumbai attacks.

India accused Pakistan-based fighters from the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba of carrying out the attacks.

Pakistan has admitted they were partly planned on its soil.

Reports say that the foreign secretaries of the two countries met late on Tuesday and had a "good detailed discussion on terrorism".

They are believed to have discussed the progress into the Mumbai attacks investigations and the steps taken to combat terrorism.

'Visible response'

The foreign ministers of the two countries are now due to meet to set out the outlines of Thursday's meeting between the two prime ministers.

India's foreign minister SM Krishna has said that India demanded a "visible response" from Pakistan to bring to justice those responsible for the attacks in Mumbai and the bombing at the Indian embassy in Kabul last year.

More than 166 people died in the attacks in Mumbai in November

In order to begin dialogue again on its terms, Pakistan has said it is doing as much as it can to pursue those responsible for the Mumbai attacks.

Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that 15,000 Pakistani citizens had died in terrorist attacks since 2001.

"The terrorist threat in the region knew no boundaries and no-one has been more affected than Pakistan," he said.

Pakistan said the trial of five men suspected of involvement in the attack on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai last November is likely to start next week