The chief of Pakistan's powerful intelligence organization will make an extraordinary visit to India to assist in the investigation of the Mumbai attacks, Pakistani officials said Friday.
The decision to send Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the director general of Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, will mark the first time an ISI chief will visit rival India. It was not immediately clear, however, when Pasha would leave for India.
The move is being seen as an attempt by Pakistan's civilian government to allay Indian concerns after accusations of Pakistani involvement in the attacks surfaced almost immediately.
In a televised speech Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India blamed forces "based outside this country" of involvement in the attacks. A day later, India's foreign minister, Pranab Mukherjee, was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying that, according to preliminary reports, "some elements in Pakistan are responsible."
India and Pakistan, which have fought two wars, have repeatedly accused each other of fomenting unrest. While India has accused the ISI of abetting terrorism in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, Pakistan has accused India of supporting an insurgency in southwestern Baluchistan Province.
Distrust and acrimony between the two nuclear powers has hampered efforts toward normalizing relations. The Mumbai attacks, which killed more than 140 people, fueled apprehension that relations would between the two neighbors would plunge to a new low.
Pakistani officials said the decision to send General Pasha to India was reached during a conversation between the prime ministers of both countries Friday.
"Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani called the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday morning at 11 a.m. to condemn the attacks," Zahid Bashir, Gilani's spokesperson, said by telephone.
"The Indian prime minister stressed the need of intelligence sharing and evolving a joint strategy to counter terrorism. Dr. Singh requested the prime minister to send the D.G. ISI to India to help in the investigations," Bashir said.
"Once the modalities are worked out, the ISI chief will leave for India," Bashir said.
Officials here said President Asif Ali Zardari also called Singh to promise cooperation "in exposing and apprehending the culprits and the master minds behind the attack," according to a presidential spokesperson.
Zardari said both countries should avoid being manipulated by militants.
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Of course, the Times of India makes it clear that the visit was requested by India...
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has accepted a request from his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh to send the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief to India for sharing of information related to the terrorist attack in Mumbai.
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