Pakistan rallies support as tension with India rises

By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Pakistan's government has begun rallying support both at home and abroad as tension flared with old rival India after a bloody militant assault on the Indian city of Mumbai.

India said on Sunday it had proof of a Pakistani link to the Mumbai attacks that killed nearly 200 people, raising the prospect not only of a breakdown of peace efforts between the nuclear-armed nations but of confrontation across their border.

Pakistan condemned the assault as a "barbaric act of terrorism" and denied any involvement by state agencies.

It has vowed to cooperate in fighting terrorism but backtracked on a decision to send the chief of its spy agency to India to help with the investigation, in a move likely to revive questions about who is in charge of the shadowy organisation.

Pakistan has also said it would move troops from its western border with Afghanistan, where security forces are battling al Qaeda and Taliban fighters as part of the U.S.-led campaign against militancy, to the Indian border if tension escalated.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani telephoned opposition politicians late on Saturday to brief them on the crisis.

"These political leaders assured the prime minister of their full support and cooperation at this critical juncture," Gilani's office said. Gilani had cancelled a trip to Hong Kong, an official said.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi spoke by telephone to the foreign ministers of China and the United Arab Emirates as well as European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, and told them Pakistan had promised all help to India.