Mumbai dossier set to blame Pakistan

A dossier of evidence being drawn up by India about the Mumbai terror attacks claims "state actors" in Pakistan were involved in the co-ordinated assault that left around 170 people dead and escalated tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Frustrated by what it considers a lacklustre response by Pakistan in the aftermath of the gun and grenade attacks, Indian officials are due to share the evidence this week with members of the international community, including the US and China. India's Home Minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, who is scheduled to travel to the US with the information, said yesterday that the sophistication of the attacks suggested elements of the state apparatus in Pakistan were involved.

"Somebody who is familiar with intelligence and who is familiar with commando operations has directed this operation," he told reporters in Delhi. "And that cannot entirely be a non-state actor. In fact, I presume they are state actors or state-assisted actors unless the contrary is proved."

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The minister is due to meet senior officials from the US's Department of Homeland Security to share evidence he said was both "overwhelming [and] unanswerable". Officials said he may also meet the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, as well as members of Barack Obama's transition team.

Mr Chidambaram said the dossier will contain transcripts of electronic intercepts and interrogation reports. Some of the transcripts are believed to be of conversations between the 10 militants who carried out the attacks and their handlers – all allegedly based in Pakistan. It will also contain the logbook of a ship the militants seized to take them to Mumbai. Also contained in the file will be information provided by Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the sole-surviving militant.

"The evidence leads to the conclusion that the plot was hatched in Pakistan ... masterminded and controlled from Pakistan," said Mr Chidambaram.

India has blamed the attacks on a Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Toiba, and has demanded the authorities in Islamabad take action to dismantle the organisation.

Last night, Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, told The Independent that India had not provided his government with the dossier. If we receive it, we will give it due importance," he said. He also rebutted the claim that "state actors" were involved.

Indian officials realise that any military strike on suspected training camps in Pakistan would almost certainly result in further terror attacks.