Holbrooke holds key India talks

India was keen to discuss the Mumbai attacks with Mr Holbrooke

The new US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, has been holding talks with Indian leaders on the last leg of a regional tour.

Mr Holbrooke arrived in Delhi on Sunday after visiting Islamabad and Kabul.

He met Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee but said that he had carried "no message or guidance".

The talks were expected to focus on what India has described as "threats" from Pakistan-based militants in the wake of last November's Mumbai attacks.

After meeting Mr Mukherjee, Mr Holbrooke spoke a few words about the news that Pakistan had agreed to impose Sharia law in Swat district.

But he gave few clues of his Indian talks, beyond saying: "We also exchanged views; I carried no messages or guidance. I just wanted to hear the views of India on a wide range of issues and I am honoured to be back in this country which I have always been fascinated by and loved."

'Coming clean'

An unnamed Indian official was earlier quoted as saying by the AFP news agency that India would "share its perceptions, and terrorism emanating from Pakistan will be part of that" in talks with Mr Holbrooke.

"We think the Pakistan establishment is key when talking about terrorism".

Relations between the two neighbours have worsened considerably since the attacks by 10 gunmen, which claimed more than 170 lives.

The Mumbai attacks have severely strained Pakistan-India ties

Last week, Pakistan admitted the attacks were partly planned on its soil and said the suspects it had arrested could be prosecuted there.

But India has urged Islamabad to bring the Mumbai attackers to justice.

Mr Mukherjee has berated Pakistan for taking so much time in its admission, and said that Pakistan must work to prevent further such attacks.

Pakistan has said India must "come clean" about those on its own soil who were involved in the Mumbai attacks.

Analysts say it is significant that Pakistan's admission of the attacks being partly planned on his soil came when Mr Holbrooke was visiting the country.

Mr Holbrooke has visited Pakistan and Afghanistan as part of his tour - but has so far made only brief statements.

He said earlier he was in the region to "listen and learn".

Before his trip, Mr Holbrooke said Afghanistan would be "much tougher" than Iraq and he had not "seen anything like the mess we have inherited".

During talks with Pakistani leaders, reports say the envoy stressed Washington's financial commitments to the country but underlined the need to purge militant safe havens in the north-west region, along the Afghan border.

And in Afghanistan, Mr Holbrooke said he hoped at least one senior US official would be in Afghanistan every month "to find ways to improve our joint effort" against fighting terrorism.

Analysts say Mr Holbrooke will be a key player in a renewed effort to reverse the deteriorating security situation on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.