Although there has been no major terror attack against India since the Mumbai strikes, there have been regular intelligence reports of imminent threat to the country’s security, Singh said while addressing the combined commander’s conference here.

“This is a matter of deep concern and there is no room for complacency,” he said. Pointing to the overall situation in the country’s neighbourhood –– the chaos and turmoil thrown up in Pakistan and Afghanistan because of a spurt in Taliban-engineered violence —– Singh said the situation across India’s western borders had worsened over the past year.

“The terrorist attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul on October 8 is yet another grim reminder of the forces we are pitted against,” he said. Hinting at the Pakistani government’s possible involvement in sustaining terrorism, Singh said both State and non-State actors were involved in spawning and carrying out terrorisist activities.

On Monday, Defence Minister A K Antony described the internal condition in Pakistan as “very serious” because of the spread in terrorism which necessitated “serious and sincere action.” This apprehension comes in the wake of a series of Taliban attacks on Pakistani government establishments, including the one on the army headquarters at Rawalpindi, and other places in Peshawar and Islamabad.

“We have, therefore, to improve our defensive mechanisms against all forms of terrorism, asymmetric warfare and aggravated militancy. We need to be prepared to face onslaughts of this kind, but we should avoid knee-jerk reactions,” Singh said. 

The government has taken several steps to strengthen the intelligence and security machinery and improve the level of coordination between the Centre and states in dealing with contingencies arising out of possible terrorist strikes.

Singh said the armed forces must be fully equipped to deal with threats anytime, anywhere and under any condition, including the non-traditional ones.