Asking India and Pakistan to refrain from taking any step that might be "misinterpreted" by the other, senior US diplomat Richard Boucher has said a joint probe by the two countries into the Mumbai terror strikes is "probably a good idea".
Coverage: 26/11 Terror Strikes
"We will continue to support the efforts of Pakistan and efforts of India to find out who did this, how they did it, and what were the plans they might have had so that we can put this group out of business...," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs in the Bush Administration Richard Boucher said.
In a January 16 interview to Pakistan's state-run APP news agency, the transcript of which was released by the US embassy in Islamabad on Thursday, the senior diplomat also said both sides should take care not to take any step "that can be misinterpreted" by the other.
He also felt that a joint investigation by both the countries into the attacks was not a bad idea.
Asked about Pakistan's offer for a joint probe commission, Boucher said: "That's probably a good idea. Again, I think, both sides have to see when they can do it, how they do it. What's important to us (is) the process of sharing information has started."
India has been reluctant for a joint investigation and has submitted a dossier to Islamabad containing evidence about the involvement of Pakistani elements into the attacks.
"What I think is most important is right now, what matters is cooperating to eliminate the terrorist threat. And we are going to cooperate with India, we are going to cooperate with Pakistan and we hope they cooperate with each other," Boucher said.
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