India's foreign minister is denying that he phoned Pakistan's president at the height of the Mumbai terrorist siege, leading Pakistan to put its air force on high alert.
Pakistan recently said President Asif Ali Zardari had received a "threatening" call from an Indian official during the crisis, apparently from External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Pakistan media later described the call as a hoax.
Mukherjee reacted to the report for the first time Sunday, saying it was "worrying" that a neighboring state would even consider acting on the basis of a hoax.
Mukherjee said that officials from other countries informed him of the call. He did not identify a country, but some media say it was U.S. Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice who notified Mukherjee of the call.
She was in contact with officials from both countries after the attacks in attempts to lower tensions following the Mumbai attacks.
The attack by terrorists two weeks ago killed more than 170 people.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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