NEW DELHI, Dec 14: A day after suspected Muslim militants launched a blistering attack on India’s well protected Parliament House, New Delhi accused Pakistan of harbouring the masterminds and said on Friday that Islamabad must arrest the leaders and freeze their accounts.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee led a mourning meeting of the two houses of parliament and later said that the objective of the five armed men who attacked the building from outside before being killed, was to take some 700 members of parliament gathered in the British-built legislature hostage to press for unspecified demands.

“Their intention was to indulge in large-scale killing and/or take hostages to make demands,” Vajpayee said at a function to commemorate 10 years of the revamped Pioneer newspaper.

“It was a well-thought-out plan, perhaps planned for months. Otherwise the attack on a soft target like parliament with such deep awareness of the place would not be possible.”

He denied opposition charges that the attack resulted from a serious security failure. “Had it been a security failure we would not be sitting here today,” Vajpayee said. “We are being mean with praise for the security men who saved our lives, fought for democracy.”

Home Minister Lal Krishan Advani, present at the function, put the blame on Pakistan although he did not directly name it. “In a way, a neighbouring country is responsible for the attack, in so far as that is where the (militants) were trained.”

The foreign ministry was more explicit although there were reports that the cabinet itself was divided over Advani’s apparent demand to go for a “hot pursuit” of the militants who India says are armed and trained across the border.

The foreign ministry blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-i-Taiba for Thursday’s terrorist attack on Parliament, asserting it has “credible evidence.”

New Delhi has also formally asked Islamabad to arrest Lashkar and Jaish-i-Mohammad men and freeze the assets of both organisations. Foreign Secretary Chokila Iyer summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi and made out a demarche, setting out three demands.

Qazi told Dawn that Pakistan had not been directly blamed for the attack which has been condemned by President Pervez Musharraf.

“It was a polite request to look into the various issues raised by the Indian government.”

External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, coming out of a meeting with the visiting Afghan counterpart, Abdullah Abdullah, told reporters that “India has technical evidence that Thursday’s terrorist attacks on not only the symbol but also the seat of Indian democracy and sovereignty was the handiwork of a terrorist organisation based in Pakistan — the Lashkar-i-Taiba.”

Declining to go into the “credible evidence” the government has on the outfit’s involvement, Singh said there were “obvious difficulties” in making it public as government agencies had many means of obtaining intelligence.

“This is technical intelligence, entirely credible,” he said.

Qazi was summoned by Foreign Secretary Chokila Iyer and a demarche was made to him. Singh told reporters that the demarche had set out three demands — arrest of the leadership of Lashkar and Jaish-i-Mohammed, stopping their activities and freezing their assets.

Speaking from Islamabad, the Lashkar denied any role in Thursday’s attack.

The Pakistan President’s spokesman, Rashid Qureshi, warned India that it would be taught a lesson if it indulged in any “misadventure”.

Singh emphasised that the demands made out in the demarche were also in accordance with necessary international obligations and commitment in countering terrorism.

He said that, along with the US, some other countries have been given information about the technical intelligence.

To a question on whether India would pass on evidence to Pakistan if it is sought, he said: “It really is a decision that will have to be weighed against the requirements and the interest of the agencies that collect technical intelligence. I don’t think any country reveals the methodology unless the intelligence collected has no further use there. That is the standard procedure.”

Asked whether India would consider military retaliation, Singh said New Delhi’s position was outlined in a Cabinet resolution and “it is not open for me to speculate.”

On whether New Delhi has received any response from Pakistan to its demands, Singh said the demarche had been made out only on Friday evening.

About reports that Pakistan has put its troops on high alert, he said: “We have no reports on this,” adding that he has been in regular touch with the Defence Minister and the service headquarters.

Asked if India had any evidence of Islamabad’s involvement in any manner in Thursday’s attack, he said one had to reflect on the origins of LT, its funding and patronage of both the LT and JM.

Asked what would be the next step if Islamabad chose to ignore the demarche, he said a diplomatic demarche cannot be ignored.

“Pakistan asserts that it is with the rest of the international community in its fight against terrorism. That it does not promote or encourage terrorism. It is our expectation that it will certainly abide by what it says itself,” he said.

Later, asked about the response of the Pakistani High Commissioner after the demarche was made out to him, an external affairs ministry spokesperson told reporters that Qazi said he would refer its contents to his government.

To a question whether the Indian government had set a deadline for Islamabad to act on the demarche, she said, “We have not set a deadline but we expect them to act early.”

Asked whether any US team had come to Delhi in connection with Thursday’s attack, she said: “No FBI team has come.” India is in touch with a number of countries on the terrorist attack, she said, when asked about the support from various nations on the issue.

Authoritative home ministry sources have reaffirmed that LT and JM terrorists carried out a joint operation in attacking Parliament on Thursday morning.

The sources noted that while initial investigation had pointed towards the involvement of LT alone, as External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said earlier on Friday, subsequent evidence indicated that the JM too had participated in the operation.

Security personnel had gunned down five militants, who had stormed into the Parliament complex in a white Ambassador car, after a prolonged exchange of fire on Thursday morning. The identities of these militants are yet to be established.

The sources noted that since each of the militants was carrying three to four identity cards each, the police was finding it difficult to establish their true identity.

One of these identity cards belonged to the man who had bought the car used in the operation. The sources quoted one of the injured security personnel as saying that the militants talked to each other in Urdu.

In the meanwhile, the Delhi Police is on the lookout for the “sixth” militant who went missing after the operation. The closed-circuit TVs installed in Parliament clearly showed six people getting down from the car which carried the militants inside the complex.