INDIA'S FOREIGN minister yesterday denied having made an abusive and threatening telephone call to Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari following last month's terror strikes in Mumbai that led to the Pakistani army being put on high alert.
Pranab Mukherjee said reports of the hoax call made in his name during the siege of two hotels and a Jewish centre in Mumbai, that ended with nearly 180 people being killed, were an attempt to divert blame for the attacks. India has blamed a Pakistan-based and military intelligence-backed militant group.
The caller claiming to be Pranab Mukherjee told Mr Zardari sharply that India would take military action if Islamabad did not hand over the militants involved in the attacks.
Pakistan responded to the prank call by putting its air force on stand-by and the incident triggered a flurry of diplomatic activity as world leaders feared a row between the nuclear-armed rivals could lead to war.
In an official statement released in Delhi, Mr Mukherjee claimed that his last and only conversation with President Zardari was in Islamabad in May 2008 and that it was "worrying" that Islamabad could "even consider acting on the basis of such a hoax call".
"I can only ascribe this series of events to those in Pakistan who wish to divert attention from the fact of an attack on India from Pakistani territory by elements in Pakistan," Mr Mukherjee said.
India claims to have proof that the 10 gunmen, one of whom has been apprehended and interrogated, belonged to the Lashkar-i-Taiba (LET or Army of the Pure) group based at Muridke near the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.
Basing its allegations on the lone gunman's statement, Indian officials also claimed the terrorists were supported by elements within Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate.
Pakistan, however, denies India's charges, demanding "concrete proof" to support its claims.
Meanwhile, Indian police dragooned dozens of school children at the weekend as part of prime minister Manmohan Singh's security arrangements during his trip to eastern Bengal state, deploying them in trees surrounding the venue of his visitation.
"We have been asked to keep a close watch on any movement in the trees," said Jayanta Das, a class 10 pupil at Shantiniketan near Calcutta where Mr Singh presided over the convocation of the university founded by Indian Nobel Laureate Ranbindra Nath Tagore.
"We have also been instructed to shake the trees from time to time to ensure that all is fine," he added 10 days after the devastating Mumbai terrorist strikes.
Local police chief LN Meena defended using children to support security arrangements saying there were far too many trees in the area and not enough policemen to man them.
The children were paid the equivalent of €1.80 each for three days to guard the trees and were issued with special security badges by the local police.