ISLAMABAD - PAKISTAN'S powerful intelligence agency has given India information about the Mumbai attacks, its prime minister said on Friday, as he urged the world to help the two countries keep tensions in check.

Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani's remarks came shortly before US vice-president-elect Joe Biden arrived here for talks with Pakistani leaders including Gilani, focusing on simmering tensions with India in the wake of the carnage in Mumbai.

'India has given 52 pages to the CIA and our ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) has given its feedback and information sharing. That has been passed on to India,' Mr Gilani told reporters.

The prime minister said Pakistan and the US Central Intelligence Agency had had a good working relationship in the past, adding: 'If some other information is needed, we are ready for cooperation.'

'The world must not let tensions between India and Pakistan escalate,' Mr Gilani said earlier as he opened a seminar on democracy.

He described the situation on the India-Pakistan border as 'very fragile' but said Pakistan's 'quest for enhancing peace and security in South Asia remains sincere and steadfast'.

Islamabad has angrily rejected allegations from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the Mumbai attacks had the support of some 'official agencies' and that Pakistan used terrorism as an 'instrument of state policy'.

The Pakistani government, however, confirmed Wednesday that the lone surviving attacker captured by India was a Pakistani national. A total of 174 people were killed in the attacks in late November, including nine of the gunmen.

Mr Gilani said India had rejected Pakistan's proposals for cooperation on the investigation into the attacks, which New Delhi has blamed on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The nuclear-armed neighbours have engaged in tit-for-tat accusations for weeks, and Pakistani officials said late last month that some troops had been shifted away from the Afghan border and towards India.

New Delhi said the long-running peace process with Pakistan, launched in 2004, had been put on hold - a move Gilani described Friday as 'regrettable'.

'Pakistan has demonstrated unwavering commitment to the dialogue process with India,' he said.

'It was and still remains our earnest hope that an improved state of relations between Pakistan and India could provide a precious opportunity to work for the resolution of difficult issues, particularly the Kashmir issue.'

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir. Both countries control the Himalayan region in part but claim it in full. -- AFP