Pakistan May Build Up Troops on Indian Border: WSJ

By ZAHID HUSSAIN

ISLAMABAD -- A Pakistani official warned Saturday that troops would be diverted from its war against al Qaeda and Taliban militants and deployed on the Indian border if Pakistan felt threatened by its neighbor in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

A senior security official accused India of heightening tension between the two nuclear-armed nations by blaming "elements from Pakistan" for the coordinated terrorist attacks against Indian commercial capital which killed 195 people.

"The next 48 hours are critical in determining how things unfold," the top security official told a group of journalists. He said the war on terror wouldn't be Pakistan's priority in the event of India military buildup on eastern borders.

Indian officials see Pakistan's complicity for the worst terrorist attacks on their soil which they said were carried out by Islamic militants with links to Pakistan. Pakistan has demanded that India present hard evidence and has strenuously condemned the attacks. President Asif Ali Zardari also said that nobody backed by Pakistani state was involved.

"If they have evidence they should share it with us," Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Saturday on his return from Delhi. "Our hands are clean."

As the tension mounted Pakistan also backed off a pledge made Friday to send the chief of its Inter Services Intelligence agency in person. Pakistan's top civil and military leaders met on Saturday night to discuss the unfolding situation. It now appears likely an ISI will visit Delhi instead.

Pakistan said it was willing to help India into the investigation into last week's grisly attacks and share intelligence, but won't be brow beaten. Mr. Zardari on Saturday warned India of any "overreaction" and vowed to take action against Islamic militant group found involved in the attack.

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