"The scene has quietened down now, although there still is quite a crowd – around 100 – outside the hospital in Panipat [near where the blast took place] as well as dozens of police still surrounding the train. Relatives have been coming here to identify the remains of their loved ones, although the doctors are saying that most of the bodies are pretty badly mutilated.

"The 30 or so injured have now been taken to Delhi and the train itself has actually continued with its journey to Lahore, after disconnecting the four carriages damaged by the bombing. Two of the carriages were almost entirely burnt out by the attack.

"Most of the victims were Muslims from Pakistan visiting relatives in India. It is still wedding season here at the moment and I understand that a lot of people had come to celebrate. People here have now become quite numbed to this sort of attack, which happens in India fairly regularly.

"In terms of who is responsible for this, it is still very hard to speculate. Here at the scene, where most of the people are Indian and Hindu, the finger is unsurprisingly being pointed at Muslim extremists. In Pakistan, some are blaming Hindu nationalists, as the bombing apparently targeted Muslims.

"The feeling on both sides though is that this will not have a hugely detrimental effect on peace negotiations between India and Pakistan, and could even bring them together rather than making them fall apart. The governments on both sides have echoed each other in explicitly condemning the attack.

"If however, the Indians discover some evidence that this traces back to Pakistan's ISI intelligence service - via a group linked to it - there would then be cause for a bigger division. But that looks unlikely this is the case, since the attack targeted mainly Pakistani nationals."

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