Pak rejects as Menon8217;s comments as 8216;baseless8217;

Pak Foreign Office refuted Menon's comments about links between Pak establishment and Headley.

Pakistan on Tuesday dismissed as 8220;baseless accusations8221; National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon8217;s remarks that David Headley was linked to the Pakistani establishment and intelligence agencies.

Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit 8220;strongly refuted8221; Menon8217;s comments about links between Pakistan8217;s establishment and Pakistani-American Headley,who conducted surveillance of sites targeted during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Basit said Menon8217;s 8220;baseless accusations were yet another manifestation of the Indian establishment8217;s propagandistic stance toward Pakistan.8221;

In a statement,Basit further said Menon8217;s comments were 8220;entirely inconsistent with the understanding reached between the leadership of the two countries8221; during a meeting on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in Bhutan that 8220;terrorism was a common threat which needed to be addressed in a cooperative manner.8221;

Menon has indicated that clear links between the Pakistani establishment and Headley were established during the Pakistan-American8217;s recent interrogation by Indian investigators.

8220;For us,it8217;s been brought home most recently by what we learnt from Headley,which confirms many of the things which we knew before. And it8217;s really the links between the official establishment and with existing intelligence agencies,it8217;s that nexus,which makes it a much harder phenomenon for us to deal with,8221; he said.

8220;Unfortunately what we know and what we see suggests that these links or this nexus,in fact,will not be broken soon. If anything,it is getting stronger,8221; he added.

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The National Security Advisor8217;s remarks follow Home Secretary G K Pillai8217;s comments that Pakistan8217;s ISI had planned and coordinated the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people in November 2008.

Pillai8217;s comments were made on the eve of a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan on July 15 and created a storm in Islamabad.