NEW DELHI: India’s Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said on Saturday he had asked his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik to provide New Delhi with the voice samples of Mumbai terror suspects, Press Trust of India said.

The agency quoted Mr Shinde as saying the Indian government hoped to soon get from Pakistan voice samples of the alleged handlers of the attackers.

“We are hopeful we will get the samples. They (Pakistan) will consult their legal department and may come to us with something. We will also consult our legal department,” he said.

Asked if inviting the Pakistani cricket team to play in India was not a climbdown as Islamabad had not brought to justice the plotters of the Mumbai attacks, Indian Home Secretary R.K. Singh said: “The Pakistan government has informed it has requested the Rawalpindi court to hold day-to-day trial against the seven prime accused (including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi).”

Sources told PTI that Pakistan had affirmed it was framing a new law under which voice samples of an accused could be taken legally and handed over to another country.

India has also asked Pakistan to record the voice samples of the 26/11 handlers through other means and match it with the samples given by India.

Mr Singh said India had also asked Pakistan to take action against the “ring leaders” of the 26/11 attacks. “We have told Pakistan there are some ring leaders who should be put on trial. There is no climbdown in our position.”

Mr Singh said the decision to revive bilateral cricket was taken by the external affairs ministry and the home ministry would ensure “foolproof security” for the visitors.

The dates for Mr Malik’s proposed visit to India for putting the liberalised visa agreement into effect had not been finalised, he said.