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Pakistan has detained a second alleged mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks, the prime minister said Wednesday, apparently making good on pledges to pursue the perpetrators.

The announcement of the arrest of Zarrar Shah could deflect intense U.S. and Indian pressure on Pakistan following the attack, but much will now depend on the country''s next steps, analysts say.

Pakistan has targeted militants in the past, detaining some only to quietly let them go later - bolstering critics who claim Pakistan is not serious about fighting extremism.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani gave no details on Shar''s arrest except to say that he and another alleged Mumbai plotter - Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi - "were in (Pakistani) custody and were being investigated."

Both men are alleged to be members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned Pakistani militant group blamed for other attacks on Indian soil and with historical ties to the country''s shadowy intelligence agencies.

Indian media reports citing intelligence officials have identified Zarar Shah as Lashkar''s communications chief, and said he created the communications system that allowed Lashkar leaders in Pakistan to stay in touch with the gunmen during the siege.

Unnamed Pakistani officials have previously said Lakhvi was detained Sunday in a raid on a Lashkar camp close to the Indian border that netted several other extremists.

Indian investigators say the sole Mumbai attacker captured alive has told them that Lakhvi recruited him for the assaults.

Gilani said India had shared no evidence or information with Pakistan about their suspicions surrounding the men. The country has made it clear it will not hand them over to India.

"We are investigating on our own about the people they have identified (through the media)," he said in the central Pakistani town of Multan. "That is a good message to our neighbors and rest of the world that Pakistan is a responsible nation."

India has so far not commented on the arrests in Pakistan.