The US does not intend to "meddle" in the Kashmir issue, but will support any effort by India and Pakistan to reduce their tensions, a key aide to President Barack Obama says while pressing Islamabad to take the "first step" to bring to justice the Mumbai attack masterminds. Allaying apprehensions in some quarters in India that US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke's mandate may also include Kashmir, Bruce Riedel, who co-chaired the inter-agency committee which formulated the Af-Pak policy, said: "I do not think, the Obama Administration intends to meddle in Kashmir." Mr. Riedel, a former CIA official, said it is in the interest of the US to see tension between India and Pakistan be reduced and diminished and see a resumption of the bilateral composite dialogue and a back channel between India and Pakistan that produced some significant result between 2006 and May 2007. "But at the end of the day it is fundamentally up to the Indians and Pakistanis to make those decisions, and change those policies that way. United States can be a supporter and it should be, but it is up to Indians and Pakistanis to find a way to reduce tensions between them," Mr. Riedel said. "The critical first step in that regard that is for Pakistan to take steps to bring to justice the masterminds who murdered a 160 people in Mumbai last November. That is the first step, without that it would be very very difficult to see a reduction in tension between Islamabad and New Delhi," he said. "I can't see how any Indian government could or should simply forget what happened last November in Mumbai," Mr. Riedel said, insisting that those responsible for that massacre have to be brought to justice. "The Pakistani Government has been asking for evidence. I think, India has provided the evidence. Now it is time to take some action against Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa and those who perpetrated this terrorist outrage," he said.