Intelligence officials said that Pakistan has began moving thousands of troops away from the Afghanistan border towards India on Friday, amid continuing tensions between the neighboring countries following the Mumbai attacks.

The move has been perceived as an escalation in the standoff between the neighbors.

However, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani insisted that Pakistan was "a peaceful and a responsible country".

"I want to reassure you today that Pakistan is a peaceful and a responsible country. If somebody acts then we will react. We will not take any action on our own, there will be no aggression from our side."
Gilani said Pakistan would not take any unprovoked action against India.

But Indian External Affairs Miniter, Pranab Mukherjee said his government has provided Pakistan with "ample evidences" for the issue, proving its neighbor's responsibility for the attack.

"We have indicated to them there are ample evidences from the log book of the captured ship, from the information available from satellite telephones and various others that elements from Pakistan were responsible for this attack. We would expect that instead of raising war hysteria, they will address this problem."

The neighbors have claimed 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.