ISLAMABAD - PAKISTANI Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday condemned the attacks in Mumbai in a telephone conversation with his Indian counterpart, telling him his country was also a victim of terrorism.
Mr Gilani telephoned Manmohan Singh and 'strongly condemned the attack,' an official in the Pakistani leader's office told AFP, the same day India's foreign minister reportedly said 'elements' in Pakistan were responsible.
Stop blaming Pakistan
ISLAMABAD- PAKISTANI press on Friday urged India to stop blaming its neighbour as it gave prominent coverage of the coordinated terrorist attacks in India's financial capital, Mumbai.
The reports were responding to Indian military allegations that attackers came from Pakistan, as well as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Thursday television address which stated the planners were based 'outside the country' and warned against 'neighbours' providing a haven to anti-India militants.
Indian foreign minister points blame at Pakistan: report
NEW DEHLI - INDIAN Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday that elements in Pakistan were responsible for the Islamist militant attacks in Mumbai, the Press Trust of India reported.
Mr Mukherjee, speaking to reporters in Jodhpur in the western state of Rajasthan, also said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would speak with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari later in the day, PTI said. -- AFP
'According to preliminary information, some elements in Pakistan are responsible,' India's foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in Jodhpur in the western state of Rajasthan.
Pakistani PM calls Indian counterpart to condemn attacks
ISLAMABAD - PAKISTANI Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
Friday condemned the attacks in Mumbai in a telephone conversation with his Indian counterpart, telling him his country was also a victim of terrorism.
Mr Gilani telephoned Manmohan Singh and 'strongly condemned the attack,' an official in the Pakistani leader?s office told AFP.
'Gilani told Singh that Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism and suffering from this menace like India,' the official added.
A press statement from Mr Gilani's office said he also extended his government's full support to India to jointly combat extremism and terrorism after Wednesday night's attacks killed more than 130 people.
Mr Gilani's call came a day after the Indian premier said in a television address that planners of the atrocity were based 'outside the country' and warned against 'neighbours' providing a haven to anti-India militants.
Although he did not specifically say Pakistan, his statement was widely interpreted to be a veiled accusation.
Pakistani analysts on Friday said allegations that the attacks were masterminded in Pakistan could unhinge recent efforts to reach a peace agreement between the two countries over the disputed area of Kashmir.
It could also hinder any attempts to work together to beat extremism, observers said.
'I believe the two South Asian neighbours will have to cooperate with each other because the challenge they are facing is very serious,' analyst and former visiting professor at Washington's John Hopkins University, Hassan Askari Rizvi, told AFP.
'But the kind of statement that the Indian Prime Minister made on Thursday reflected the pressure that he faces from domestic groups raising question of security lapses,' he said.
Lieutenant General Hameed Gul, retired chief of Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency Inter Service Intelligence (ISI), said allegations about Pakistani involvement could set back the Kashmir issue.
Pakistan, and particularly ISI, has in the past been accused of using militant Islamic groups to pursue its agenda in Kashmir, which is owned in part but claimed in full by both countries.
A key ally in the US-led 'war on terror', Pakistan is dealing with its own militant violence including bomb blasts and suicide attacks across the Islamic Republic.
Islamabad is engaged in military operations in its northwest tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, which are believed to be the stronghold for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
More than 1,400 people have died in terrorist attacks in Pakistan since July 2007, the worst period of militant violence the country has experienced related to Islamic extremism.
Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Friday Prime Minister Singh would speak with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari later in the day, Press Trust of India reported. -- AFP
