India formally accuses Pakistan of involvement in Mumbai attacks

The growing diplomatic row between India and Pakistan reached new heights this week, with India's prime minister formally accusing the Pakistani state of involvement in the deadly attacks in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), which left 172 dead.

"Official agencies" in Pakistan supported the militants who attacked Mumbai in November, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, making India's sharpest accusation yet that Pakistan's government was involved," Bloomberg reports.

The accusation comes after India on Monday handed over a trove of alleged evidence to Pakistan and demanded that it act, according to the Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn.

Pakistan has so far responded with skepticism, according to The News, a popular English daily in Pakistan.

US officials this week echoed the statements coming out of India, says The Daily Times, another leading English-language newspaper in Pakistan.

In a different article, The Daily Times adds that India has begun a new diplomatic push to bring attention to the new evidence:

As elections loom in India in May, Prime Minister Singh's government is under increasing pressure to clamp down on terrorism, according to Bloomberg.

But India must tread a careful line in its response to the Mumbai attacks, Bloomberg adds.