Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Monday conferred with his counterparts from India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates on last week's terrorist attack's in India's commercial capital Mumbai.
A ministry statement said Frattini phoned the diplomatic chiefs because he was ''concerned over the possible regional repercussions'' from the attacks.
In his talks with Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Frattini renewed his condolences for the close to 180 victims of the attacks and reiterated Italy's determination to combat terrorism.
The Italian and Indian diplomatic chiefs were then said to have discussed the possible effects the attacks will have on peace and stability in the region.
Frattini expressed his hope that India and Pakistan will be able to cooperate together in the investigation into the attacks and the identification of those responsible for them.
The Italian minister also confirmed that the situation in the subcontinent will be on the foreign policy agenda when Italy takes over the rotating presidency of the Group of Eight (G8) most industrialised countries next year.
Frattini said the same to Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and added that it was of the utmost importance for Islamabad to give a clear and concrete reply to New Delhi's request for collaboration in their investigation.
Qureshi is said to have assured Frattini that his country would give India positive and concrete assistance in the probe.
In his talks with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan, Frattini expressed his appreciation for the UAE's efforts to encourage solutions for peace, cooperation and stability in the region.
Some 180 people were killed, at least 28 of them foreigners, and over 300 were injured when at least ten terrorists went on a rampage in Mumbai starting last Wednesday.
The ten, believed to be radical Muslims, were said to have arrived by sea from Pakistan and first attacked Mumbai's central railway station before embarking on a killing spree, which included strafing a popular cafe with automatic weapons fire.
They then split into groups with one attacking a Jewish center, while the two other main targets were the luxurious Taj Mahal and Oberoi Hotels, which they captured and held for days until police finally flushed them out in a room-by-room offensive which ended at the weekend and left all but one gunman dead.
