New Delhi's move comes at a time when, sources said, relevant details emerging from the investigations and questioning of the alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists captured alive have been shared with US agencies to cross-check identities in Pakistan given that plot was planned and executed from Pakistani soil.

While this had barely played out, visiting Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi invoked the Samjhauta Express blast case here to make the argument that India tends to arrive at conclusions sooner than it should even though this may have been the worst terror attack on India.

“When Samjhauta blasts happened, lots of people had made several kinds of allegations...today the investigation has turned around completely. Probably when this Mumbai case is investigated threadbare, there may be another direction to the case...after all local elements, Deccan Mujahidden and so on cannot be overruled,” he told reporters at the Indian Women's Press Corps today.

While confirming that his government had “in-principle” agreed to Lt Gen Pasha visiting India, he felt a lot of India's “compulsions” had to do with the election season here. “My honest view is that the Indian government should have pondered more, reflected more in coming to the conclusion...you have to be more careful and reactions have to be measured...We understand that India may have domestic compulsions, elections are around, but this is an issue above and beyond politics. Today we all have to rise above politics.”

Just as he was speaking, he received a call from External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee who, as it came to be known later, made it clear that if Pakistan desires to move forward in the bilateral relationship, then “outrages like the attack on our embassy in Kabul and now the attack on Mumbai are intended not to make this impossible”.

Clearly, Lt Gen Pasha, who is better known for his expertise in the NWFP and FATA areas, will have some tough questions to answer when he visits India with security agencies here working overtime to put together proof starting with intercepts before and during the attack, identity documents and other recoveries made from slain terrorists.

It is important to note here that Lt Gen Pasha was placed by Zardari at the helm of ISI in a shake-up of the military top brass few months back, largely at the instance of US authorities who were looking for greater cooperation on the Afghan front.

Washington's prodding for Islamabad to accept this offer, sources said, is quite evident just as the formation of the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism after the last attacks in Mumbai. However, this time New Delhi will be pressing several times harder for a concrete response. Sceptics here feel Lt Gen Pasha's visit may achieve little but officials say this is an important first step to show India's determination to find answers this time.