As US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made it clear today that Pakistan will have to take “direct and tough action” even if the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks were “non-state actors”, India went another step ahead, linking the Mumbai strikes to the blasts in Jaipur, Delhi Bangalore and calling it a “design” to attack India.

Rice, who leaves for Islamabad tomorrow where she is expected to convey the same tough message, sought to underline US support and cooperation, asking the Indian establishment to work systematically through the investigations and assuring that Washington will do all it can to get Islamabad to extend help.

After her talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Rice said: “The fact is non-state actors perform from the confines of the state. There has to be direct and tough action (by Islamabad).” She made it clear that “non-state actors” were “still a matter of your (Pakistan) responsibility that somehow relates to your territory”.

During an interaction with the press, Mukherjee said India has suffered repeated terror strikes in important capitals during the year — Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi where, put together, almost 350 lives were lost and 733 persons injured in six incidents.

Earlier, Rice met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Leader of Opposition L K Advani. Both countries are involved in some hectic diplomacy after the attacks. In Washington, Foreign Secretary Shivshanker Menon engaged Bush administration officials, including US Under Secretary of State (Political Affairs) William Burns and senior Democrat lawmakers Christopher Dodd, Richard G Lugar, Chuck Hagel and John Kerry — most are being considered for positions in the new Barack Obama administration — over the last two days.

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