Qureshi for hotline between intelligence chiefs of India & Pak

New Delhi: Even as India blamed Pakistan-based ‘elements’ for the Mumbai attacks, Islamabad today proposed setting up of hotline between intelligence chiefs and National Security Advisers of the two countries for regular contact and information sharing to fight terror jointly.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that India should not accuse his country for terror attacks here till their investigations were complete and favoured further strengthening of the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism.

“I proposed to let the intelligence chiefs meet. There should be a hotline between the intelligence chiefs and National Security Advisers of India and Pakistan so that we can share information timely and collectively in dealing with the menace,” Qureshi said adding: “Let us cooperate and not accuse each other.”

His comments came hours after External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that ‘some elements’ based in Pakistan are responsible for the terror attacks in Mumbai.

Contending that India is an ‘important neighbour’ for Pakistan, Qureshi said that he always advocated friendly co-existence between the two countries and that he has come here to ‘build bridges’.

“I want to turn the tide from confrontation to cooperation,” he said.