NEW DELHI, Feb 21: India on Wednesday rejected the Pakistan National Assembly’s demand for a joint investigation into bombing of the Delhi-Attari Express on Monday. At least 23 Pakistani passengers are feared to have been killed in the incident with the total body count put at 68.

The two countries, however, signed a widely applauded agreement on nuclear risk reduction and said it would come into force with immediate effect.

The agreement between India and Pakistan on ‘reducing the risk from accidents relating to nuclear weapons’ was signed by senior officials in the presence of Foreign Ministers Pranab Mukherjee and Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri. It was not immediately clear how the new agreement was any different from the one the two countries had signed in February 1999 together with the Lahore Declaration.

Indian Foreign Minister Mukherjee told a joint news conference with Mr Kasuri that the bombing of the Delhi-Attari special train would be probed according to the “law of the land” and the findings would be shared with Islamabad when the officials of the joint anti-terror mechanism between the two countries meet in Islamabad on March 6.

A Pakistani official quoted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as promising to Mr Kasuri that he was “going to get to the bottom of the crime”.

Mr Kasuri who made a customary call on the prime minister, also briefed him about President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s Middle East peace initiative and about the situation on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

“As per the law of the land, the investigations will have to be done by India,” Mr Mukherjee said in response to a question at the news conference about a joint probe.

“The Indian prime minister has assured our prime minister that results of the investigation will be shared and I am sure the joint anti terror mechanism will take cognizance of this,” Mr Kasuri added.

There were some hard feelings in the Pakistani camp when an Indian official apparently suggested that the injured Pakistanis could be taken home by a special plane on Thursday provided the high commission gave an assurance that the people would be available for interrogation should they be needed by Indian investigators. There was no immediate Indian comment to corroborate the charge.

Officials of the Pakistan High Commission have been working in Panipat, the site of the incident some 80kms north of Delhi. The High Commission said it would assist the relatives of Pakistani victims, for quickly sending the bodies home. A special C-130 plane is being sent for this purpose by the government of Pakistan to New Delhi.

Mr Kasuri, addressing the news conference with Mr Mukherjee, made a special mention of the work done by Indian doctors at the Safdarjang Hospital which has a special burns department, said to be the best in Delhi.

Meanwhile, NDTV said that during their one-to-one meeting, Mr Kasuri asked his Indian counterpart for intelligence information to be shared right away by New Delhi. But India maintained that the joint anti-terror mechanism would be the right forum for this.

The Pakistani foreign minister also asked for a meeting between railway officials on both sides to discuss how security could be improved. Asked about the possibility of Pakistan-based groups being involved in the attack, Mr Mukherjee said this was no time for conjecture.

The two sides also reviewed the progress in the peace process, the Kashmir issue and the joint survey of the Sir Creek. The countries also signed a treaty on reducing the risk of nuclear accidents and another on preventing untoward incidents in the waters shared by the two countries.

India assured Pakistan that it will make every effort to bring the perpetrators of the Delhi-Attari train blasts to justice. “The government of India will make every effort to bring to justice these perpetrators of this heinous act,” Mr Mukherjee said.

He expressed hope that the fourth round of composite dialogue process in Islamabad on March 13-14 between the foreign secretaries of the two countries would help further promote bilateral relations. Reviewing the progress under the Joint Commission, he said the joint survey of the Sir Creek was ‘progressing smoothly’.

Mr Kasuri told reporters that the purpose of the meeting was to “further the peace process”. India had reacted positively to his suggestion that both countries have agreed to appoint retired judges to look into the human rights issue, he said.

The Pakistan foreign minister said the priority was to secure the release of those who have completed their sentences. While Pakistan has come out with names of four judges for the purpose, Mr Kasuri said Mr Mukherjee told him that New Delhi also had some names in mind for the purpose and these would be soon finalised.

Mr Mukherjee said he handed over to Mr Kasuri a list of relatives of missing Indian soldiers wanting to visit Pakistan to search for them. He said Islamabad had agreed to receive them.