Pakistan cancels army leave as India tensions rise

Pakistan cancelled army leave and redeployed some troops yesterday in a sign of rising tension with India.

The United States urged both sides to refrain from further raising tensions, already high after India blamed Islamist militants based in Pakistan for attacks on Mumbai last month that killed 179 people.

The latest strains followed media reports in Pakistan and India that "several" Indian nationals had been held in the last two days after bombings in the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Multan.

The foreign ministry in New Delhi warned Indian citizens yesterday that "it would be unsafe for them to travel (to) or be in Pakistan". Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had earlier discussed tension with Pakistan during a scheduled meeting about military pay with the chiefs of the army, navy and air force, his office said.

"The Prime Minister met the tri-services chiefs to discuss the pay commission issues but obviously the situation in the region was also discussed," said an official from Mr Singh's office, who requested anonymity.

The South Asian neighbours both tested nuclear weapons in 1998. They have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, and came to the brink of a fourth after gunmen attacked the Indian parliament in December 2001.

Although many analysts say war is very unlikely, international unease is growing.

"We hope that both sides will avoid taking steps that will unnecessarily raise tensions during these already tense times," US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

"We continue to be in close contact with both countries to urge closer cooperation in investigating the Mumbai attacks and in fighting terrorism generally."

While there had been no significant troop movements in either India or Pakistan, military officials in Islamabad said army personnel had been ordered to report to barracks and some troops had been moved off the Afghan border.

"A limited number of troops from snow-bound areas and areas where operations are not being conducted have been pulled out," said a senior security official who declined to be identified.

That is likely to worry Washington, which does not want Pakistan distracted from the battle against al Qaeda and Taliban militants on its western border.

The official declined to say where the troops had been moved to, citing the sensitivity of the issue. Pakistani media have reported some troops had been redeployed to the Indian border.

India, the US and Britain have blamed the Mumbai attack on Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, set up to fight Indian rule in the disputed Kashmir region.

Pakistan has condemned the attacks and has denied any state role, blaming "non-state actors". It has offered to cooperate with India but denies Indian claims that it has been handed firm evidence of links to militants in Pakistan. Islamabad has said that it will defend itself if attacked.

A senior police official in Pakistan's Punjab province denied that any Indians had been arrested over the Lahore and Multan blasts but an intelligence agency official, who declined to be identified, said an Indian had been detained on Wednesday.