Mumbai, Oct 11 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanded Sunday that Pakistan should try and punish those who masterminded the Mumbai terror attack last year.

The prime minister told reporters here that diplomatic pressure from India and the international community had forced Pakistan to admit for the first time that its nationals were involved in the terror assault that killed some 170 people.

"They should investigate all those who are involved (in that attack) including Hafiz Saeed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. There should be a fair trial which will result in proper punishment being given to them. We have not lost hope."

Hafiz Saeed, who heads the Jamat-ud-Dawah, is also the founder of the Lashkar, which has been blamed for the Mumbai carnage of November 2008 when Pakistani terrorists sneaked into the city by boats.

The prime minister said: "For the first time Pakistan admitted that it (attack) had its origins in Pakistan, the conspiracy leading to the tragedy in Mumbai was hatched in Pakistan, that citizens of Pakistan were involved. Pakistan had never before agreed to this... So there is some progress."