WASHINGTON, Dec 15: The United States believes that after the Mumbai attacks India’s air force began preliminary preparations for possible strikes at suspected terrorist camps in Pakistan, a US news channel reported on Monday.

US military officials confirmed to CNN that the United States had information, indicating that India began to prepare air force personnel for possible missions into Pakistan after the terror attacks.

“The comments indicate that the two nuclear powers were perhaps closer to conflict in the days just after the Mumbai attacks than previously acknowledged,” the American television network observed.

One Pentagon official told CNN that the Indian air force “went on alert”.

A second official said the United States concluded these preliminary preparations would have put India quickly in the position to launch air-strikes against suspected terrorist camps and targets inside Pakistan. During these preparations, a number of senior US officials were urging India to exercise restraint.

Until now, the Bush Administration has publicly said it saw no signs of military movement by India and no indication that the Indian government was preparing any type of retaliation.

The Pentagon officials broadly described the activity as checking on the status of crew, fighter jets and weapons that were available. The extent of the reported preparation was not immediately known.

The report, however, indicates that the Bush administration took the possibility of an India-Pakistan war over the Mumbai terror attacks much more seriously than they publicly acknowledge.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen visited both India and Pakistan right after the attacks, apparently to ease tensions between the neighbours.

On their return to Washington, both officials said they saw no indication that either India or Pakistan were preparing for a war.

But in an interview to CNBC on Friday, Ms Rice said that while in New Delhi she urged Indian leaders not to take actions that could destabilise the region.

“Anything that, in fact, would make the situation worse or might introduce unintended consequences is not going to be good for the stability of the region,” said Ms Rice. “It isn’t going to address what needs to be done, and that was also my message to India.”

The statement confirms that the US not only worried about the possibility of the Mumbai attacks leading to a war but also discussed it with Indian and Pakistani leaders, urging both to show restraint.