Pakistan must act in an expeditious and transparent manner against all those responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attack

Taking note of the spike in the 'level of infiltration' in the last few months, Rao added that 'the infrastructure of terrorism and activities of terror groups operating from the territory of Pakistan is a cause of serious concern.' 

Krishna told parliament that India has made it clear to Pakistan to 'take effective action to ban the anti-India activities of organisations such as Jamaat-ud-Dawa and their leaders, including Hafiz Saeed.' They have openly and blatantly espoused an agenda of violence and terrorism against India, Krishna said. 

Be prepared for a long haul in Afghanistan

"The United States fully recognises that India has legitimate interests in Afghanistan. It appreciates the development work we do there... It appreciates that we are force of stability and moderation in our region. We are not scaling down in Afghanistan," she said.

India has made it clear that it will not be scaling down its operations in Afghanistan notwithstanding a spate of recent attacks targeting its citizens, including the one on two guest houses in central Kabul in which seven Indians were killed.

We feel it is vital for the international community to stay the course in Afghanistan.

Despite the provocations we have faced constantly from terrorists whose linkages we have traced back to Pakistani soil, we have not abandoned the path of dialogue,' Rao said in an address Monday at the Woodrow Wilson Centre, a renowned Washington think tank. 

India will also not scale down operations in Afghanistan despite terror attacks on its intetests, she said. 'We feel it is vital for the international community to stay the course in Afghanistan.' 

India's approach has been to deal with terrorism with restraint, she said. 'However, our restraint should not be confused with weakness or unwillingness to act against those that seek to harm our people, create insecurity, and hamper our developmental goals. 

'We are a strong country and we possess the capacity to deal effectively with those that pursue destructive agendas against India and its people.

'We have, time and again, made genuine attempts to address outstanding issues, most importantly, the issue of terrorism through dialogue with Pakistan,' she said, referring to her meeting in New Delhi with Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir of Pakistan.

'But it continues to be our conviction that for this dialogue to really make progress, Pakistan should take meaningful steps to address our concerns on terrorism, and cease the encouragement of terrorism targeted against India.'

Rao said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would participate in the Nuclear Security Summit to be hosted by Obama next month. 'We believe the summit can be milestone in addressing the threat of nuclear terrorism.' 

Referring to the latest attacks on Indians in Kabul Feb 26, she said: 'The international community should understand that such attempts, if unchecked, will only embolden the forces that held sway in Afghanistan in the 1990s and caused the tragedy of 9/11.'