Indian, Pakistan pledge to fight terror

The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan pledged Wednesday to fight terrorism together _ a break from the finger-pointing that has often marked the aftermath of attacks like this week's bombing that killed 68 people on a train linking the two rivals.

India, however, ruled out the possibility of a joint investigation, underscoring the lingering hostility between two nations whose conflict has often defined _ and destabilized _ South Asia for nearly six decades.

Investigators searched for two men who were allowed to jump off the Samjhauta Express shortly before a pair of bombs went off, sparking a fire that engulfed two coaches and killed 68 people, most of them Pakistanis, police said. Sketches of the two men were released Tuesday.

After meeting for about two hours in New Delhi, the foreign ministers condemned Sunday night's attack and said the peace process would move forward. They also witnessed the signing of an agreement to reduce the threat of accidentally triggering a nuclear war.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri called the attack a "horrendous tragedy" that "has underlined the need for cooperation."

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said whoever was behind the "heinous crime" would be brought to justice, but added that "the investigation has to be carried on by India."

India, however, will share the results of its investigation with Pakistani authorities at the first meeting of a joint anti-terrorism initiative on March 6 in Islamabad, the Pakistan capital.

Although no longer on the edge of war, India and Pakistan remain far from lasting peace. Their animosity is mostly over Kashmir, a largely Muslim Himalayan region divided between them but claimed by both.

New Delhi says it won't seriously consider concessions on the most divisive issues _ especially Kashmir _ until Pakistan cracks down on the Islamic militants allegedly behind earlier terrorist attacks in India, including the Mumbai train bombings that killed 207 people in July.

The Pakistanis say progress on Kashmir would help them rein in militants fighting to end Indian rule in two-thirds of the disputed region.

The two countries have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir. Despite the deep mistrust on each side, both countries would face heavy consequences for abandoning the peace process.

Another conflict with Pakistan would undercut India's astounding economic growth and deal a setback to its aspirations of becoming a great power.

For Pakistan, keeping up with India's much larger military is a serious drain on the country's resources and distracts from more pressing problems facing the government of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, particularly keeping Islamic extremists in check.

"The process is becoming blast proof, but I'm saying it with a lot of caution," said C. Uday Bhaskar, a senior analyst at the Institute for Defense Studies in New Delhi.

"There has been a certain degree of determination among the leaders on both sides to continue with the process and a sense that there is real movement in back channels," he added, referring to informal talks where the most sensitive issues are discussed.

Indian officials have claimed there was Pakistani involvement in previous attacks, including the Mumbai bombings. But most of the victims of Sunday's attack were Pakistani, helping assuage suspicions in India.

"It proves what Musharraf has been saying, that Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism," Bhaskar said.

Relations between the two countries have been hostile since the bloody partition of the subcontinent into predominantly Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan after independence from Britain in 1947.

India accuses Pakistan of supporting Islamic militants who have fought Indian security forces in Kashmir since 1989. Pakistan acknowledges that some militants are based on its territory, but insists it only gives them diplomatic, not material, backing.

The peace process began in 2004, and has helped ease tensions. Shortly after the process started, the countries restored the train link, suspended after a 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament that India blamed on Pakistan and which nearly led to a war.

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Associated Press reporter Ashok Sharma contributed to this report.