Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has sought India's technical assistance in corroborating possible pathways that the missing Malaysian plane may have taken.

The External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson said that Mr Razak today spoke to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in this regard. Sharing India's concern and anxiety about the missing aircraft, Dr Singh assured his Malaysian counterpart of all assistance.

Earlier Malaysian officials had said they are requesting assistance from a number of countries along the two possible routes the missing plane may have taken. The search now covers a very wide area – from central Asia to the southern Indian Ocean.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian police are also reportedly looking at the family life and political and religious backgrounds of pilot Zaharie Shah and co-pilot of flight MH370.

Police searched their homes yesterday shortly after Malaysian Prime Minister said the aircraft veered off course due to apparent deliberate action taken “by somebody on plane”.

Investigators were examining a flight simulator reportedly found at the home of one of the pilots of the missing plane with refocus on “those in the cockpit” who knew how to avoid detection by radars.

India has put on hold its search operations for the missing airliner as it is awaiting fresh instructions from Malaysian authorities who are looking into new areas for locating the plane.