Islamabad, Dec 2 : The deadly Mumbai terror attacks that killed nearly 195 people were aimed to push nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to the brink of war at a time when Islamabad was talking peace, analysts have said.

They further said that attacks happened at a time when US and Pakistani forces were punishing al-Qaeda and its allies.

“It happened at a time when a new civilian government in Pakistan was not just reaching out to India, it was undertaking some very meaningful steps,” said Samina Ahmed, South Asia project director for the International Crisis Group (ICG).

Lahore, Dec 2: The Jamaat-e-Islami has offered conditional support to the Pakistan People’s Party-led government against threats to national security in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.

It asked the Pakistan Government to take concrete and courageous measures for establishing lasting unity and peace in the country, The News reports.

“This is the golden opportunity for the rulers to galvanise the nation into an invincible entity by withdrawing army from FATA and taking bold steps for countering threats on eastern and western borders,” said Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Ameer of JI.

Karachi, Dec 2: Pakistani Sports Minister Pir Aftab Shah Jilani has said that Pakistan will welcome India if they opted to come here for a much-awaited cricket series scheduled for January-February next year.

Jilani told reporters that Pakistan will show “sportsman spirit” by hosting India in a friendly environment, and urged the Indian Government to clear the eagerly awaited tour.

“We don’t believe in mixing sports and politics. There may be tensions between the governments but sports shouldn’t suffer,” said Jilani, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

New York, Dec. 1 : Senior media persons and experts in the United States are of the view that now more than ever, the United States can play a unique role in helping South Asian countries combat terrorism.

But they add that these countries need to look beyond their own national security.

Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, who appeared with other noted political authors on CBS'' Face The Nation, said: "What''s happening now is, the problems of Pakistan, Afghanistan and India are bleeding into one another.

“What you have is a kind of South Asian terrorism, where these groups are feeding off each other, finding pockets where they can train in lawless parts of the country," he added.

London, Dec. 1 : Officials and analysts in the region believe that last week’s atrocities were designed to provoke a crisis, or even a war, between the nuclear-armed Pakistan and India, diverting Islamabad’s attention from extremism in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and thus relieving pressure on al-Qaeda, Taleban and other militants based there.

One analyst even described the attacks as a “pre-emptive strike” against Barack Obama’s strategy to put Pakistan and Afghanistan at the centre of US foreign policy.

Islamabad, Dec. 1 : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has appealed to India not to punish his country for last week''s attacks in Mumbai, saying militants have the power to precipitate a war in the region.

In an interview with a British newspaper, Zardari warned that provocation by rogue "non-state actors" posed the danger of a return to war between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

"Even if the militants are linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, who do you think we are fighting?" asked Zardari.