Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's opening remarks at the Press Conference at Mumbai

"I have come to salute the spirit of Mumbai. I have been to two hospitals in Mumbai today - SION hospital and KEM hospital, to meet those who have been injured in the blasts that devastated Mumbai on July 11, 2006 and met state government officials. These acts are desperate acts of desperate individuals who are trying to break the backbone of the people of Mumbai and the people of India. In the process, valuable, innocent lives have been lost. Hundreds of people have been grievously injured. I am pained by this suffering. I pray for the souls of those who have been killed and pray for the recovery of those injured.

However, Mumbai has shown its resolve not to be cowed down by these incidents. You have demonstrated your determination in fighting this battle by showing discipline and courage in rapidly restoring normalcy in the city. The whole nation admires the spirit of Mumbai. But just as things can never be the same for those who have lost their near and dear, it cannot be business as usual for us. We have to ponder over this and act on credible strategy.

We must recognise that terrorists are trying to spread their tentacles across the country. Terror modules exist in Mumbai and in many other parts of the country. We have credible information to this effect. We are also certain that these terror modules are instigated, inspired and supported by elements across the border without which they cannot act with such devastating effect. They clearly want to destroy our growing economic strength, to destroy our unity and to provoke communal incidents. We cannot allow this to happen. We have been active in destroying many terror modules and cells in the last few months. But the time has come for us to crack down and destroy all these anti-national elements.

We will leave no stone unturned, I reiterate, no stone unturned, in ensuring that terrorist elements in India are neutralized and smashed. This requires sustained action and pressure by the Central and State governments and various strata of society. We will work to strengthen our capabilities. Terrorists are becoming sophisticated in the way they deal death and devastation. There is a necessity to upgrade our technological capabilities, our electronic surveillance systems, our communication interception capabilities, our access control systems to vital installations and high profile targets. This we will do both at the Central and State levels. Even as our intelligence agencies have done good work and Mumbai police has responded fast to the situation. There is a need to improve ground level intelligence. I urge the local police to have their ears to the ground and detect any anti-national activities. Simultaneously, if an incident of this nature still happens, we need to have rapid response plans to ensure effective management of the situation and quick restoration of normalcy.

We need to recognise the important role played by citizens in rescue and relief efforts and form auxiliary people's groups. It is equally important to lay emphasis on communal harmony. We can't allow terrorists to destroy our unity. As I had said in my address to the nation, our strength lies in our unity. Fighting together, we will win this battle against terror."