India has informed Pakistan that it would not shift the bodies of unidentified victims of the Samjhota Express terrorist attack to Pakistan but will bury them in India on Saturday afternoon, according to a statement released Friday.

In the statement, the Pakistani foreign ministry said that it had previously requested India to shift the bodies back to Pakistan but the Indian government declined the plea, saying that it would hold burial of the unidentified victims in India, claiming that "in view of deterioration, it is not possible to keep these bodies for a longer period".

Pakistan now requested India for proper separate burial with DNA identification to keep the possibility of bringing the remains of identified Pakistani nationals to Pakistan.

"The last batch of relatives who have been given Indian visa would be proceeding to Panipat tonight for possible identification of missing relatives among the victims," it said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman added that Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had personally intervened and directed the foreign ministry to supervise the burial and ensure that DNA identification of Pakistanis, if buried in India, were available to the relatives of the victims of the tragic incident.

Aziz has also directed all the departments dealing with the issue to extend all possible cooperation to the relatives of the deceased so that they are able to obtain DNA test results of their kins, said the spokesman.

Source: Xinhua