Gilani, who had travelled on Friday to the eastern city of Lahore, cancelled his engagements there and rushed back to Islamabad on Friday night.

The Cabinet meeting is to be held shortly, hours after the Pakistan government did a volte face on its decision to send the chief of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, Shuja Pasha, to India in connection with the attacks in Mumbai.

Pakistan has now announced that a representative of the ISI would visit India instead of the spy agency's chief.

Gilani also sent his special aircraft to India to bring back Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to enable him to attend the special Cabinet meeting. Qureshi was on an official visit for peace talks with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee.

A statement said Gilani decided to send his special plane due to the non-availability of a direct flight which could bring Qureshi back to Islamabad immediately.

Mukherjee said in Jodhpur yesterday that "some elements" based in Pakistan were responsible for the terror strikes in Mumbai. He noted that Pakistan had said that it would not allow territories under its control to be used for terrorism against India.