WASHINGTON, Dec 1: The United States has no reason to believe that Pakistan’s government was involved in last week’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai, and the Bush administration trusts Pakistan to investigate the issue, the White House said on Monday.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino also rejected suggestion that Pakistan could withdraw troops from the Afghan border if India mobilised troops on the eastern border.

“We have no reason not to trust Pakistan right now,” Ms Perino told reporters at a briefing. “I’ve heard nothing that says the Pakistani government was involved.” Throughout the briefing the White House spokeswoman played down the suggestion that Pakistan or Pakistani intelligence agencies were involved in the Mumbai attacks or Pakistan cannot be trusted to investigate the attacks despite a promise by President Asif Zardari to do so.

The briefing made it obvious that the White House was seriously concerned that the current situation could lead to more complications in an already tense region and even to an India-Pakistan war.

“In some ways that whole region is like a forest that hasn’t had rain in many months and one spark could cause a big, roaring fire,” Ms Perino warned. “That’s what we’re trying to avoid.”

In a situation like this, “the most important thing we can do right now is to try to foster dialogue” between India and Pakistan. When an American-Indian journalist known for his anti-Pakistan rhetoric claimed that the ISI had trained 500 militants to carry out Mumbai-like attacks and that an Indian fugitive, Dawood Ibrahim, hiding in Karachi was behind the Mumbai killings, Ms Perino said: “I’m not going to comment on or confirm this allegation that you made at the beginning of your statement/question. So we’ll just let the investigation continue to play out.”

Ms Perino also described as “rhetoric” recent statements by Pakistani officials that they would be forced to withdraw troops from the Afghan border if India were to send more troops to the eastern border. “I just think that they’ve pulled back from that type of rhetoric,” she said.

Ms Perino noted that there have been suggestions since Wednesday that the Pakistanis could not be trusted to hold an impartial and thorough investigation into the attacks, but she said that despite these suggestions the White House trusted Pakistan.

“I think that there has been suggestion since Wednesday evening that India — obviously making reference to a possible origin in Pakistan, and a concern by the Indians that the Pakistanis would let this go and not follow it through to its conclusion,” Ms Perino noted.

“But that is not what the Pakistanis have said, and we’re going to hold them to it.”

She said the United States had no reason not to trust Pakistan. “Everything that they have said in their public statements and in their private statements to us has been encouraging from that regard,” said the White House spokeswoman.

“Remember, Pakistan has been the victim of terrorism, as well, and it is not even quite a year since Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by a terrorist. And so it’s a fresh wound for them, as well.”