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ISLAMABAD : Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday called on the international community to help contain tensions between India and Pakistan, calling the situation on the common border "very fragile".
Gilani's remarks came shortly before US vice president-elect Joe Biden arrived here for talks with leaders including the premier, which are expected to focus on simmering tensions with India in the wake of the deadly Mumbai attacks.
"The world must not let tensions between India and Pakistan escalate," the Pakistani prime minister told a seminar on democracy in Islamabad.
He described the situation at the India-Pakistan border as "very fragile" but said Pakistan's "quest for enhancing peace and security in South Asia remains sincere and steadfast".
Islamabad has angrily rejected allegations from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the Mumbai attacks had the support of some "official agencies" and that Pakistan used terrorism as an "instrument of state policy."
The Pakistani government however confirmed Wednesday that the lone surviving attacker captured by India was a Pakistani national. A total of 174 people were killed in the attacks in late November, including nine of the gunmen.
Gilani said India had rejected Pakistan's proposals for cooperation on the investigation into the attacks, which New Delhi has blamed on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The nuclear-armed neighbours have engaged in tit-for-tat accusations for weeks, and Pakistani officials said late last month that some troops had been shifted away from the Afghan border and towards India.
New Delhi said the long-running peace process with Pakistan, launched in 2004, had been put on hold -- a move Gilani described Friday as "regrettable".
"Pakistan has demonstrated unwavering commitment to the dialogue process with India," he said.
"It was and still remains our earnest hope that an improved state of relations between Pakistan and India could provide a precious opportunity to work for the resolution of difficult issues, particularly the Kashmir issue".
Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir. Both countries control the Himalayan region in part but claim it in full.
- AFP /ls
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