In times like this, members of the international community tend to close ranks and voice their objections in the strongest possible terms against such barbarity, and verbally renew their commitment in the global war against terrorism, which is universally recognised as one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. The rest of the time, however, terrorism, in its different forms and guises, is dealt with differently, inconsistently and even tolerated to a certain extent.

The international fight against terrorism has always been compromised by countries' narrowly defined self-interests, double standards, hypocrisy or extreme cynicism. Such a fractious world response to this scourge of mankind partly explains why terrorist attacks of this magnitude continue to be repeated in countries around the world, including countries which have always been staunchly anti-terrorist like India.

Countries will only be deluding themselves if they think they will somehow be spared such vicious attacks if they condone or tolerate terrorist organisations or allow their territories to be used as a launching pad for terrorist attacks elsewhere.

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that India, a great democracy and ascending global economic power, has the resilience and indomitable spirit to rise above these latest acts of terror. The Indian government should be commended for its calm and measured response to this atrocity, which at this time is focused on investigating with a view to bring the perpetrators of these heinous crime to justice.

Commuter train services in the Bombay area resumed less than 24 hours after the terrorist attacks. Indian citizens whose initial response in the face of such inhuman attacks was one of shock and anger quickly regained their composure and went about their business as usual yesterday in defiance of hate-filled terrorists. There have been no reports so far of sectarian violence between Hindus and Muslims and share prices rose almost 3 per cent in India's main stock exchange in Bombay.

The immediate task for the Indian government and countries that are truly committed to fighting the global war against terrorism is for them to cooperate and track down these murderous individuals and organisations and bring them to justice. Although it would be premature to point the finger of blame at any country or organisation that may be responsible for the attacks on Bombay, Pakistan, more than any other country, will have a lot to answer for after what happened.

This is despite the fact that New Delhi yesterday made it a point to assure Pakistan that warming relations between the two countries would remain on course despite suspicions held by investigators that Pakistan-based terrorist groups linked to the dispute over Kashmir were responsible for Tuesday's bombing. India has claimed that Pakistan supports or at least condones Kashmiri groups blamed for previous terrorist attacks in India. But Pakistan has categorically rejected such accusations. It may well be true that the Pakistani government has nothing to do with terrorist acts directly but there is a suspicion among international observers that certain elements of Pakistan's power intelligence services continue to support terrorism. The onus of proof is with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf to demonstrate beyond any reasonable doubt that this is not the case.

It is one thing and relatively easy to condemn terrorists. It is quite another to take the trouble to root out rogue officers in Pakistan's intelligence services which are said to continue to support terrorism outside the purview of the government in Islamabad.

Other than that, both Pakistan and India must redouble their efforts to find mutually acceptable resolutions to thorny bilateral issues, including the dispute over Kashmir. There is no clearer example of how great a threat terrorism poses to international peace and stability than the possibility that a terrorist act may spark renewed hostility between India and Pakistan, both of whom have nuclear capabilities.