New Delhi - Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Thursday condemned the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and offered to set up a hotline between the intelligence chiefs of the two countries to strengthen a joint anti-terrorism mechanism with India.

Qureshi, who is in India on a four-day visit, said he was "shocked and horrified" to hear about the attacks in Mumbai that claimed over 100 lives.

He mentioned he had spoken of the need for the two countries to step up their fight against terrorism in his talks with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday.

"I pointed out that both countries are victims of terrorism and will have to further strengthen the joint anti-terror mechanism to deal with this scourge," he was quoted by the IANS news agency as saying.

"I also offered that there should be a direct contact and hotline established between the intelligence chiefs of the two countries, so that they can share information and cooperate with each other in a more effective manner," he added.

Pakistan's main intelligence agency is the Inter-Services Intelligence while its Indian counterpart is the Research and Intelligence Wing (RAW).

India has often blamed Islamabad for backing terrorist groups like the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) that have carried out terrorist attacks and bombings on its soil.

Top Indian security officials have specifically accused Pakistani intelligence, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), of being behind such attacks.

India had pointed its finger at Pakistan-based terrorists for the deadly bombings on commuter trains in Mumbai two years ago which claimed 180 lives.

The suspicion over the Pakistani links had led to the suspension of the peace dialogue for a few months and later led to the establishment of the joint anti-terrorism mechanism.

More recently, India's National Security Advisor, MK Narayanan blamed the ISI for the July 7 bombing of the Indian mission in Kabul in which over 50 people were killed.

Indian agencies are investigating Wednesday night's attacks but have not pointed a finger at any foreign agency or militant group so far.

Qureshi cautioned against "making insinuations against each other" for terrorist attacks while emphasizing the need for a coordinated approach to tackle terrorism.

"Pakistan offers complete support and cooperation to deal with this menace. We have to collectively fight extremism and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," he said. (dpa)