Pakistan Warns India It Will Respond to Any Attack

India has said it has provided Pakistan with sufficient evidence and wants the government to crack down on Lashkar and other militants operating out of Pakistan.

Pakistani security officials examine the wreckage of a car after a bomb explosion in Lahore,...

Pakistani security officials examine the wreckage of a car after a bomb explosion in Lahore, Pakistan on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008. A car bomb exploded in a heavily guarded neighborhood of the eastern Pakistani city where many government officials live, leaving one woman dead and four people wounded, police said. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

(AP)

Pakistan has arrested several senior members of the banned group and moved against a charity that India and others say is a front for Lashkar. But many in India are skeptical Pakistan will follow through on its crack down against Lashkar, which was created in the 1980s with the help of Pakistan's intelligence service.

Gilani said he understands Indian officials are under tremendous pressure to take action but sought to assure them that Pakistan was committed to cracking down on terrorists.

"We do not want our land to be used for terrorism," said Gilani.

At the same time, Qureshi said Pakistan's military is "alert and vigilant" in case it needs to respond to Indian action. Pakistani fighter aircraft have flown over several of the country's major cities in recent days, but Qureshi said the military has not mobilized its ground forces.

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"India should refrain from any surgical strike," said Qureshi. "It should not commit this mistake, but if it does, Pakistan will be compelled to respond."

Also Thursday, police said they recovered 880 pounds (400 kilograms) of explosives and more than 500 detonators from a house in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

Police arrested 10 people inside the house during Wednesday's raid but were still looking for the owner of the explosives, said Asghar Raza Gardaizi, Islamabad's police chief.

Pakistani officials have expressed concern about the spread of violence in the country outside the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where al-Qaida and Taliban militants have sought sanctuary.

Militants attacked the Marriott hotel in Islamabad in September with a truck bomb, killing more than 50 people.

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Associated Press writers Zarar Khan and Asif Shahzad contributed to this report from Islamabad.

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