Pakistan Moves Troops Toward Indian Border

The neighbors have said they want to avoid military conflict this time around, but Pakistan has promised to respond aggressively if India uses force, an option the Indian government has not ruled out.

"We will not take any action on our own," Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters Friday. "There will be no aggression from our side."

Pakistan has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers in Waziristan and other northwestern regions to fight Islamic militants blamed for surging violence against Western troops in Afghanistan as well as suicide attacks in Pakistan.

Security officials have previously said the country would be forced to withdraw troops from the Afghan border if tensions with India — whose army is twice as large — escalated.

"This is a serious blow to the war on terror in the sense that the whole focus is now shifting toward the eastern border," said Masood. "It will give more leeway to the militants and increased space to operate."

The United States wants Pakistan to stay focused on the fight against militants in the border region, where Osama bin Laden and other top al-Qaida leaders are believed to be hiding.

• Read more about the pressures in India for reprisal attack on Pakistan
• Read 5 Lessons from the Deadly Mumbai Terrorist Attacks
• See a photo timeline of major terrorist attacks in India