The Indian government has admitted to 'vast gaps' in intelligence gathering and says it will look to tighten anti-terror legislation following a spate of bombings in major cities.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also acknowledged that India had to face up to the growing involvement of home-grown militants in such attacks.
"We are actively considering legislation to further strengthen the substantive anti-terrorism law in line with the global consensus on the fight against terrorism," Singh told reporters late Wednesday.
Singh's government has been strongly criticised in the wake of serial bomb blasts this year in the cities of Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and New Delhi, which have claimed more than 100 lives.
After Saturday's blasts in the Indian capital killed 22 people, the media accused the government of incompetence and of lacking a coherent counter-terrorist strategy.
While acknowledging there were "vast gaps in intelligence" that needed to be overcome, Singh rejected charges that his administration's policies had made the country more vulnerable to attack.
"There is no question of government being soft on terrorism," he said.
Singh, however, acknowledged that the security forces might need stronger legal tools in conducting counter-terror operations.
"Even this aspect is under consideration with the aim of identifying provisions which could be made to further strengthen the hands of the law enforcement agencies," he said.
Several of the bombings this year, including the latest New Delhi blasts, were claimed by a group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen, which has forced the government to confront the emergence of an indigenous Muslim militancy.
Singh said structural reforms were also needed, including the formation of a national body to coordinate post-attack investigations.
"This need not necessarily be a Federal Investigative Agency, but could be a central agency which can assist the states in investigation whenever a major terrorist event takes place," he said.
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