A day after the Jaipur blasts, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said there was “no lack of firmness in the Government’s resolve against terror”, but each attack could not be anticipated since terrorists had the “advantage of surprise”.

Asked whether the absence of a law like POTA was one of the reasons behind increased terrorist activities, he said there was no co-relation between POTA and terror strikes. Asserting that there was no dearth of laws against terror in the country, Singh said many terrorist attacks like the ones on Parliament, Akshardham temple and Raghunath temple had taken place when POTA was in force.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Defence Investiture Ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan, Singh, when asked about the Jaipur blasts, said: “It is too early to say whether we are close to a breakthrough or not. We will explore all possibilities and it is premature to say anything right now as it may interfere with the investigations.”

Singh also defended the Government’s intelligence mechanisms saying the number of cases that the intelligence agencies had anticipated and prevented was “significant” and that each and every terror strike could not be anticipated considering the surprise element which the terrorists have. The PM also said that the Centre shared intelligence inputs with states as and when required.

On whether terror issues would be raised with Pakistan during External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee’s forthcoming visit, the PM said that all issues affecting bilateral relations would be discussed.