India studies US anti-terror strategies

The Congress led-government, which has come under strong opposition criticism over the delayed response by authorities to the attacks that left 165 people dead, insisted it was much better prepared to deal with any new strikes.

“Our level of preparedness is much higher than it was three months back and in the event of any attack, our response will be swift and deterring," said home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram.

The government is keen to be seen acting tough on security which is expected to emerge as a key issue in general elections that must be held by mid-May.

India dispatched a team to the US to study anti-terror strategies prepared in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Chidambaram told Parliament.

Nearly 3,000 people died 11 September 2001 when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

“The team has come back and we are trying to replicate the strategies studied there that suit our requirements," Chidambaram said.

Earlier in February, Islamabad admitted that the Mumbai attacks were planned partly in Pakistan. New Delhi has blamed the bloody 60-hour siege on the banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

In the meantime, the home minister said India was ramping up security arrangements.

Coastal security had also been strengthened after the Mumbai attackers travelled to India’s financial hub by boat, the minister said. Help was being given to coastal states to use boats, jeeps and motorcycles for land and sea patrols.

The government was also setting up 20 counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism schools, he added.

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