Pakistan: ISI representative to visit India instead of Pasha

Pakistan: ISI representative to visit India instead of Pasha ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has backtracked on a decision to send the chief of its spy agency to India to help with the Mumbai attack investigation, Dawn reported. The prime minister's office said on Saturday a representative of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency would go to India instead of its director general Ahmed Shuja Pasha, as the government had earlier stated.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani addressing a press conference upon his recent arrival at the Lahore airport

CRISIS TALKS

An ongoing special cabinet meeting has been convened to discuss Pakistan's response to the slaughter in Mumbai, and allegations by Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee that 'elements' in Pakistan were involved. 'The special session of the cabinet will take stock of the situation arising out of the allegations by India and the change in level of ISI participation into the probe', a government official told AFP. Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari - while speaking to an Indian television channel - has vowed to take the 'swiftest of action' if evidence is found linking the Mumbai attacks to Pakistani militants. India has blamed Pakistan-based militants for the coordinated assault on its financial capital, Mumbai, raising the prospect of a breakdown in peace efforts between the nuclear-armed rivals. The attacks on two luxury hotels and other sites around Mumbai came after Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has made bold moves to improve ties with India. Pakistan condemned the Mumbai attacks and denied any involvement. In an unprecedented step, it agreed to let the head of its military's ISI go to India to share information at the request of the Indian prime minister. ‘Since we had nothing to hide, we thought there was no harm in calling the Indian bluff by agreeing to the request to send the ISI chief to Delhi,’ a senior official privy to the developments told Dawn earlier. However, opposition politicians criticised what was called a hasty decision to send the spy agency's chief. The opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N’s spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said the government had not taken their party into confidence before taking the decision. ‘Although we are committed to extending full cooperation in the investigations, it should be done through established diplomatic channels and norms,’ he said. LEAVING EARLY Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was in India on a scheduled visit aimed at boosting ties when the assault in Mumbai began. He said on Friday anti-terrorism cooperation had to be strengthened and called on India not to play a blame game. According to Reuters, an official at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi said Qureshi was cutting short his visit.

Qureshi had been due to meet an Indian opposition leader and some other politicians on Saturday, before returning home after his four-day visit, but those meetings had been cancelled, the official said. 'He is at the airport and about to leave on a special plane sent from Pakistan,' said the High Commission official.

Pakistan had for years supported militants battling Indian forces in the disputed Kashmir region but was forced rein them in after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

But analysts say security agents still have links with some Kashmiri militants.

The use of heavily armed 'fedayeen' or suicide attackers in Mumbai bears the hallmarks of Pakistan-based militant groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed, blamed for the 2001 attack on India's parliament.

Lashkar-e-Taiba denied any role in the Mumbai attacks, and said it had no links with any Indian group. Instead, the little-known Deccan Mujahideen have claimed responsibility.