December 27, 2008	Saturday	Zilhaj 28, 1429

WASHINGTON, Dec 26: The White House on Friday urged India and Pakistan to show restraint as Islamabad cancelled leave for operational armed forces personnel and redeployed troops along the Indian border.

In Washington, Ambassador Husain Haqqani told senior US officials that Pakistan was only responding to Indian troop movements and had no aggressive designs.

National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters at the White House that the Bush administration had seen reports about both sides’ actions and was staying in touch with its embassies in South Asia. “We hope that both sides will avoid taking steps that will unnecessarily raise tensions during these already tense times,” he 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.”

US intelligence officials, meanwhile, dismissed the possibility of yet another India-Pakistan war. They told reporters they had not noticed any major troop deployment on either side of the border.

According to diplomatic sources, Pakistan Embassy in Washington acted promptly to undo the impression that Islamabad was causing unnecessary alarm by redeploying troops along the Indian border.

Although Dec 26 was an official holiday in Washington, Ambassador Haqqani got in touch with officials at the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon to assure them that Pakistan had no intention of increasing tensions in an already volatile region.

He is believed to have told US officials that Pakistan had “noticed certain developments” on the Indian side of the border that forced it to take precautionary measures.

Senior embassy officials in Washington noted that it was India that created war hysteria after the Mumbai attacks. They said that Islamabad kept the United States and other allies fully informed on how it was dealing with the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks.

Even before cancelling troop leave and redeploying some of its forces to the Indian border, Pakistan consulted its allies, the officials said.

They noted that earlier on Friday the Foreign Office held a special briefing for senior diplomats in Islamabad on the latest move.

Pakistani diplomats also rejected the suggestion that Islamabad was talking of redeploying its troops from the Afghan to the Indian border to scare the Americans who wanted Islamabad to continue to focus on fighting the insurgents on its western border.

“Troops are not moved to score a political point. They are moved because national security needs require such a move,” said one senior Pakistani diplomat.