Pakistan on Tuesday rejected Indian claims that “official agencies” here backed the Mumbai attacks, saying the accusations were irresponsible and a sure way to raise tensions between the neighbours.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier said “some official agencies” in Pakistan had supported the gunmen who laid siege to Mumbai in November, and accused Islamabad of using terrorism as an “instrument of state policy”.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry issued a strong statement in response, accusing its nuclear-armed rival of embarking on an unacceptable “propaganda offensive” and calling such an approach “fraught with grave risks”.

“The government of Pakistan emphatically rejects the unfortunate allegations levelled against Pakistan by the prime minister of India in New Delhi today,” the statement said.

“Instead of responding positively to Pakistan’s offer of cooperation and constructive proposals, India has chosen to embark on a propaganda offensive.

“It will not only ratchet up tensions but occlude facts and destroy all prospects of serious and objective investigations into the Mumbai attacks.”

Singh said the attacks were “clearly carried out” by the banned Pakistan-based outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is fighting Indian rule in divided Kashmir.

The Indian premier said that given the level of sophistication and planning involved in staging the attacks, the gunmen must have had “the support of some official agencies in Pakistan”.

But Islamabad strongly rejected that claim.

“Vilifying Pakistan or for that matter any of its state institutions on this score is unwarranted and unacceptable. This is a sure way to close avenues of cooperation in combating this menace,” the foreign ministry said.

“Pakistan is a victim of terrorism…. Pakistan is not a state sponsor of terrorism,” it added.

“Pakistan would not allow its soil to be used for acts of terrorism at home and abroad.”

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who was in Afghanistan on his first official visit to that country, had previously said that the gunmen who stormed India’s financial capital were “non-state” actors.

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