Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- India put airports in New Delhi and elsewhere on alert after a terrorist threat as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice increased pressure on Pakistan to act against the suspects in last week’s attacks in Mumbai.

Security agencies in India stepped up their vigil at airports in Bangalore, Chennai and the capital after several threats, including one purported to have been sent by Deccan Mujahideen, which took responsibility for the attacks last week in Mumbai that killed 195 people.

“A red alert has been sounded,” Digvijay Singh, commandant, Central Industrial Security Force, in charge of security at the Bengaluru International Airport, said in a telephone interview. “This is due to some intelligence inputs suggesting there will be attacks on the airport. One such is an e-mail from Deccan Mujahideen.”

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell said two days ago the group behind the Mumbai assault also carried out the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, which authorities had blamed on the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani militant organization. He didn’t mention the group by name.

Indian security agencies consider Deccan Mujahideen a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Times Now reported, without saying where it got the information. A U.S. counterterrorism official said there are strong indications the gunmen are linked to Lashkar-e- Taiba, which is fighting Indian rule in Kashmir.

Sufficient Evidence

During a visit to Pakistan, Rice said the government has been given sufficient evidence to take action against suspects in last week’s deadly attacks in Mumbai. Rice was in India yesterday, where she pledged to support India in the investigations into the attacks.

“There is a lot of information about what happened here. That information needs to be used now to get the perpetrators,” Rice said. “There needs to be action, urgently and transparently, and that is a message that has been well received here in Pakistan.”

The U.S. is seeking to persuade Pakistan to take action and cooperate with India’s investigation to prevent an escalation of tension between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

“The pressure on Pakistan is increasing,” said Mohammad Wasim, a professor of political science at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. “Pakistan is offering cooperation in investigations but it is to be seen what more it can do.”

That pressure may not result in Pakistan pursuing the militant organization, said Suba Chandran, deputy director, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies.

‘Under Pressure’

President Asif Ali “Zardari is under pressure and he does not have any option,” Chandran said, in a telephone interview from New Delhi. “The U.S. pressure will not achieve anything. They are not going to go after the Lashkar-e-Taiba.”

Rice’s visit came as Pakistan’s top army commanders met in Rawalpindi today and were briefed on the security environment. Army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who met Rice before the briefing, “expressed satisfaction on the operational preparedness and training of the army,” according to a release from the military.

He hoped peace and stability in the region will be maintained, the release said. No further details were given.

The Mumbai attacks targeted the main railway station, two five-star hotel complexes, a Jewish center and a hospital. They began late on Nov. 26 and ended on the morning of Nov. 29.

“There is a lot of information” about the attackers, Rice told reporters in Islamabad today after meeting Zardari and army chief Kayani. Zardari gave assurances that Pakistan would assist in the probe, she said.

Pakistan ‘Elements’

India has blamed “elements” in Pakistan for the Mumbai attacks and is seeking to extradite 20 suspected terrorists. Pakistan “will not only assist in the investigation but also take strong action against any Pakistani elements found involved in the attack,” Zardari said in a statement.

The Bush administration wants to ensure the attacks don’t damage the more than five-year-old peace process between Pakistan and India, which have fought three wars since 1947, two over the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir.

“We hope India and Pakistan will step up consultation and dialogue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a briefing today in Beijing.

In their rhetoric and actions, the governments in New Delhi and Islamabad have shown more restraint than in 2002, when both sides amassed forces at their border after militants thought to have originated in Pakistan attacked the Indian Parliament in December 2001.

‘Global Struggle’

The attacks “just remind us that this is a global struggle and it reminds us that all responsible states have to play their role to make sure the terrorists can’t get away from such kinds of attacks,” Rice said.

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee this week sought to dispel fears that the Mumbai death toll and possible links to Pakistan might prompt war, saying “no one is talking about military action.”

Security agencies in India have increased anti-sabotage units at the airport in Bangalore and extra policemen have been deployed, said Singh of the Central Industrial Security Force. Barricades have been set up on the route to the airport and passengers’ bags are being checked.

“A few commandos armed with AK-47 rifles are also being posted at the airport,” Singh said. Armed plainclothes officers have taken positions, he said.

Greater Security

All three airports have been told to step up security, an official of the Bureau of Civil Aviation, a government body that handles civil aviation security, said in a telephone interview from New Delhi. The measures include increased frisking of passengers and searching of cars.

“The government has to show to the people that they are taking high alert measures,” N. Manoharan, analyst at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies, said in a telephone interview from New Delhi. While these may be tactics by the terrorists to confuse the security services, the “threat is imminent and they are going to strike somewhere,” he said.

The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence agencies have determined that former officers from Pakistan’s army and its Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate helped train the Mumbai gunmen. The newspaper cited a former Defense Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, for its report.

The official said no links had been uncovered between the gunmen and Pakistan’s government, the Times reported.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jay Shankar in Bangalore at jshankar1@bloomberg.net; James Rupert in Islamabad at jrupert3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 4, 2008 08:59 EST