Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan President Asif Zardari sought to defuse tensions over claims that Indian Air Force warplanes yesterday violated Pakistani airspace, saying the incident had been “technical” and “not a violation as such.”

Indian planes had “slightly entered Pakistani soil” while making a turn above 40,000 feet, Zardari told a press conference in Islamabad today after talks with U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown. “Such incursions do happen.”

A Pakistani Air Force spokesman, Humayun Waqar, had described the alleged violation to journalists, saying Pakistani jets had forced the Indians to turn back. India denied any breach had taken place.

Terrorist attacks that left 164 people dead in the Indian city of Mumbai last month have strained the five-year-old peace process between the South Asian neighbors, which have fought three wars against each other since independence in 1947.

India has demanded action against “elements” in Pakistan, including the extradition of 20 people suspected of involvement in terrorism. Pakistan has asked for evidence that its citizens were involved.

Pakistan has raided a camp and detained Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who established the Islamist Lashkar-e-Taiba group, directly blamed by Brown today for the Mumbai attacks.

Pakistani claims that India breached its airspace are aimed at distracting attention from the Mumbai plotters, said C. Uday Bhaskar, an independent defense-strategy analyst in New Delhi.

‘Familiar Pattern’

“This is part of a familiar pattern of behavior by Pakistan, where the military is trying to divert the attention of the people by creating a scare by posing India as a security threat to Pakistan,” Bhaskar said.

The Indian planes first entered Pakistani territory yesterday over the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir at 11 a.m., Waqar said. The second entry into Pakistani territory was at 2 p.m. over the eastern city of Lahore, he said.

“There has not been any airspace violation as has been alleged,” Indian Air Force spokesman Mahesh Upasani said in a phone interview in New Delhi today.

The Indian government has ruled out military action against Pakistan, while saying its neighbor should crack down on terrorists operating from its territory.

The peace process began after the two nuclear-armed nations stepped back from the brink of a fourth war in 2002. That military buildup followed several terrorist attacks in India, including one on the parliament in New Delhi in December 2001.

To contact the reporters on this story: Bibhudatta Pradhan at bpradhan@bloomberg.net; Khalid Qayum in Islamabad at kqayum@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 14, 2008 09:13 EST