Islamabad: The chief of Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency met Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday amid growing tension with old rival India over the Mumbai attacks.
Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, the head of Pakistan's main security service, briefed Gilani on security, according to a brief statement from the prime minster's office.
India has blamed Islamist militants based in Pakistan for the three-day rampage in its financial capital last week that killed 171 people.
Indian newspapers said on Friday the ISI was involved in training the militants, who are said to belong to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group that has been blamed for earlier attacks in India.
The Pakistani government and security officials have denied any involvement by state agencies, and the chief of the Interior Ministry reiterated on Friday Pakistan's commitment to helping India with its investigation.
"We will give India unconditional support to identify the criminals and take action against them," acting Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters.
"We think the criminals, whether they are from India or Pakistan or anywhere else in the world, he or they should be brought to justice," he said.
Tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours, which have fought three wars since independence from British rule in 1947, has stoked fears of renewed confrontation and the collapse of their four-year-old peace process.
Malik said no one wanted war: "Neither the Pakistani nation nor our Indian brothers want war. God willing, that won't happen".
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in both New Delhi and Islamabad this week, where she stressed the need for full cooperation from Pakistan to get to the bottom of the attacks. She also urged India to show restraint.
Hope For Peace
India says 10 militants were involved in the coordinated attacks on two luxury hotels and several others places. Nine of them were killed. The lone surviving attacker told Indian investigators after he was captured that they had undergone months of commando training organised by Lashkar-e-Taiba and conducted by former Pakistan army officers.
Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Kayani told his military commanders on Thursday that the army stood for peace and security. Without mentioning India, he said he hoped "peace and stability in the region will be maintained".
A confrontation between the South Asian rivals would undercut efforts to bring stability to Afghanistan and defeat al Qaeda.
Pakistani security officials have said they could feel compelled to abandon the campaign against Islamist militancy and take forces away from the Afghan border, where they are fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban, and move them to the Indian border if tension increases.
Comments
0 comment