Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday squarely blamed Pakistan for the November 26 terrorist attack in Mumbai, the Indo-Asian News Service reported.

"The terrorist attack in Mumbai in November last year was carried out by a Pakistan-based outfit, the Lashkar-e-Taiba," Singh said while addressing a meeting of all the state chief ministers on the issue of internal security.

"On the basis of the investigations carried out, there is 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," he said.

It was the first time the Indian prime minister has explicitly singled out Pakistan's role in the 26/11 attacks, the report said.

"Terrorism, on the other hand, is largely sponsored from outside the country, mainly Pakistan, which has utilized terrorism as an instrument of state policy," said the prime minister, a day after the government handed over material evidence to Pakistan linking Pakistani based militants to the Mumbai attacks.

India's government has blamed elements from Pakistan for involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks in which at least 172 people were killed and requested that strong action be taken, but Pakistan said there are no sufficient evidence.

(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2009)