ISI chief will not go to India

Islamabad: A special meeting of the Pakistani cabinet has approved a government decision not to send the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief to India following escalation of tensions between the two countries after the Mumbai terror attacks.

Indian authorities have blamed Pakistan based elements for the attack, a charge Pakistan has strongly denied, and asked India to complete the investigations before jumping to conclusions.

The special cabinet meeting was briefed by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi who cut short his India visit to return home. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, meanwhile, took the cabinet members into confidence about the government's and President Asif Zardari's contacts with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Singh had asked Gilani the other day to send the ISI chief to India for intelligence sharing and a probe into the Mumbai terror attacks. Pakistan agreed to send the intelligence chief in the first place but following heightened Indian allegations implicating some unidentified Pakistan-based elements in the Mumbai tragedy, it decided not to send the premier agency chief to India, official said.

Zardari, Gilani and Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani also met on Saturday to review the security situation following the escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan.

Pakistan's top brass is closely monitoring the Indian allegations regarding the Mumbai attacks, and Pakistan's response and offer of cooperation into investigations and intelligence sharing, officials said. Pakistani opposition leaders have, meanwhile, cautioned the Indian leadership not to repeat past mistakes and refrain from starting a blame game following the Mumbai attacks.

Former Pakistani premier and head of the opposition party, PML-N, Nawaz Sharif urged the Indian leadership to work with Pakistan to root out terrorism from the region. Nawaz advised India not to jump to conclusions before investigations are complete.

Another Pakistani opposition leader, Pervaiz Elahi, cautioned India not to blame Pakistan for its internal chaos.

"The Indian leadership should demonstrate maturity at this sensitive juncture," he said.