New Delhi, Jan. 6: The Prime Minister today alleged a role by “some official agencies” in Pakistan in the Mumbai attacks and accused Islamabad of using terrorism as an “instrument of state policy”.

Indian and foreign investigators have produced “enough evidence to show that, given the sophistication and military precision of the attack, it must have had the support of some official agencies in Pakistan,” Manmohan Singh told the chief ministers’ conference on internal security.

He admitted that India’s counter-terror mechanisms, technical and human, were less than adequate but cautioned the states against using this as an excuse, insisting that intelligence may not always be “specific” but was always “actionable”.

Singh’s first-ever remarks alleging official Pakistani complicity in the November 26 carnage come a day after Delhi provided Islamabad with purported evidence that it was sponsored from Pakistani soil.

Pakistan dubbed Singh’s statement a “propaganda offensive”, saying this was “a sure way to close avenues of co-operation” in fighting terror.

Singh today rejected the distinction between “state” and “non-state” actors that Islamabad has been making so much of. He added that India would not differentiate between “soft” and “hard” sponsorship of terror, or tolerate being equated with Pakistan as a “victim” of terrorism.

“Terrorism (in India) is largely sponsored from outside, mainly Pakistan, which has utilised terrorism as an instrument of state policy,” Singh said. “Unfortunately, we cannot choose our neighbours.”

He said the Mumbai attacks were meant to target both the “economic and security interests” of India. “Targeting of foreigners, especially from the West, was obviously intended to convey an impression that India was unsafe as a destination for the West and western investments.”

Singh cited the need to review the ways India collected “technical signals and human intelligence” and armed and trained its security forces at a time terrorists were “able to fashion new techniques and employ new skills”.

“Use of the Internet and Voice-over Internet Protocol connectivity gives terrorists greater anonymity and makes detection difficult. There is growing emphasis on mass casualty attacks.”

Singh pointed a finger at Bangladesh too as he mentioned the Northeast rebels and “Left-wing extremism” as the other dangers. The Northeast militancy is “sustained by the sanctuaries in the neighbouring countries,” he said.