Tuesday, July 11 2006 21:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday condemned the bomb blasts in Srinagar and Mumbai as "shocking and cowardly" and said India was committed to fighting terrorism in all its forms.

An emergency meeting of senior ministers and officials was convened by the prime minister immediately after his return from Kolkata to take stock of the security situations in the country following the serial blasts.

"The series of blasts in Jammu and Kashmir and Mumbai are shocking and cowardly attempts to spread a feeling of fear and terror among our citizens," Manmohan Singh said in a statement after the meeting read out by Home Minister Shivraj Patil outside the prime ministerial residence at 7 Race Course Road.

"My heart reaches out and grieves for all those affected by these blasts and who have lost their near and dear," he said, while reiterating the country's resolve to fighting terrorism.

Patil, National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan and Home Secretary V.K. Duggal were among those present at the hour-long meeting.

The prime minister also dispatched Patil and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad to Mumbai late Tuesday.

No official figures on the number of deaths were, however, released.

"We are waiting for exact information on the deaths. As per the information we have received so far, some say it can be 50 and some say it could even be more," Patil told reporters.

The bombings began in downtown Srinagar in the morning, killing eight people in five blasts. And in the evening rush hour, seven bombs rocked Mumbai's western suburbs, taking a toll of at least 23 lives and injuring dozens, police said.

The prime minister said India was committed to fighting terrorism.

"People of Jammum and Kashmir have been facing attacks of terror with courage and fortitude in the past. I am sure, they will continue to fight terrorism resolutely," he said.

"The citizens of Mumbai have faced a similar trauma more than a decade ago," the prime minister said, referring to the serial bombings in the city in 1993 when more than 270 people were killed in the wake of the razing of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya in December 1992.

"I am confident that the people of this great city have the will and courage to face the situation and will stand firm in the resolve to carry on their normal activities without succumbing to threats of terror," Manmohan Singh added.



Indo-Asian News Service