WikiLeaks: How foreign diplomats charted response to 26/11

MELBOURNE: In the aftermath of 26/11, diplomats from US, Australia, New Zealand, UK and Canada had decided not to get "sucked into" the Indo-Pak blame game and stop short of blasting India on the huge intelligence failure, disclosures by WikiLeaks show, according to New Zealand media.

A confidential cable released by WikiLeaks relating to the Mumbai terror attack relates to the international response to the deadly incident that killed 166 people, including foreigners.

The cable from December 2008 describes a meeting between New Zealand, US, Australian, British and Canadian diplomats in the aftermath of the attacks, according to New Zealand Herald. All the representatives resolved not to get "sucked into the blame game" being played by Pakistan and India, the cable said.

It said the representatives decided that any offers of assistance to India should be made "carefully" to avoid being interpreted as politically motivated. They had earlier agreed to send sympathetic messages to India rather than "pound" it for the "massive intelligence failure" that led to the attacks, it said.

In the leaked cable, US ambassador to India David Mulford speculated on whether the attacks were ordered by Pakistan's intelligence service ISI.

In a segment titled "The Million Dollar Question", he noted links between Pakistan intelligence and the extremist group that perpetrated them, Lashkar-e-Taiba. However, he said "there is no clear evidence yet to suggest that ISI directed or facilitated the attacks".