Though the Indian leadership has not spoken of any military option in the wake of the terror attacks blamed on Pakistan-based elements, the local media has been abuzz with reports of surgical air strikes on targets like the headquarters of the banned Lashkar-e-Tayiba terror group.

Appearing to change the tone after tough talk on Mumbai attacks, the US on Thursday said Pakistan "understands its responsibilities" to respond to terrorism wherever it exists and sounded convinced that Islamabad would act against those responsible for the strikes in India.

President Asif Ali Zardari has said Pakistan will assist India in probing the terror attacks in Mumbai. Pakistan will take strong action against any Pakistani element found involved in the Mumbai terror attacks, Zardari said.

Noted South Asia expert Stephen P Cohen has asserted that India can do more to rescue Pakistan than any other country even as tensions mount over the deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Putting Pakistan on notice, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today demanded a "robust response" from Islamabad in bringing perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to justice.

Riedel, who was also the erstwhile director for South Asia in the National Security Council during the Clinton Administration and most recently an adviser on foreign policy to the Obama campaign, said it's difficult to believe the Pakistani government's assertions that its intelligence service has no links to LeT. If there's anything that is a 64 million dollar question today," it is finding out the "extent of its ties to the Pakistani intelligence service."

South Asia expert Daniel Markey believes India will not go to war with Pakistan. His reading of comments made by the external affairs minister leads him to believe that India does not consider a short-term military solution.

Former Pakistan Army officers and those from the powerful ISI helped train the attackers who targeted Mumbai last week killing over 180 people, a media report said today quoting a former Pentagon official.

In a stern warning to Pakistan, India on Wednesday said it was 'determined to take strongest' possible steps to ensure that there is no repetition of incidents like the Mumbai terror attacks.

Former Union minister of state for external affairs and president of National Conference, Omar Abdullah has said India and Pakistan needed to rise above mutual mistrust and work together against terrorism.