WORLD> Asia-Pacific
Pakistan denies India accusations on Mumbai attacks
(Agencies/Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-01 07:39

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's government has begun rallying support both at home and abroad as tension flared with old rival India after a bloody militant assault on the Indian city of Mumbai.

India said yesterday it had proof of a Pakistani link to the Mumbai attacks, raising the prospect not only of a breakdown of peace efforts between the two nations but of confrontation across their border.

Pakistan condemned the assault as a "barbaric act of terrorism" and denied any involvement by state agencies.

Pakistan also said it would move troops from its western border with Afghanistan, where security forces are battling Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters as part of the US-led campaign against militancy, to the Indian border if tension escalated.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi spoke by telephone to the foreign ministers of China and the United Arab Emirates as well as European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, and told them Pakistan had promised all help to India.

During talks with Qureshi on Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said China hopes Pakistan and India could continue to strengthen cooperation, maintain the Pakistan-India peace process, and to advance bilateral ties in a healthy and steady way.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardar told Indian television on Saturday he would cooperate in the investigation and act decisively if any Pakistani link was found.