NEW DELHI: India stepped up the pressure on Pakistan on Saturday with a strong signal that it was keeping its military options open. The message came loud and clear from a four-hour-long meeting in the evening that began at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence and later shifted to the war room in the defence ministry.



At the meeting, the three service chiefs briefed the Prime Minister and his senior cabinet colleagues on the state of military preparedness.



Sources said Dr Manmohan Singh, defence minister AK Antony, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and home minister P Chidambaram were among those present. The meeting in the war room lasted about two hours with the chiefs briefing those present about the state of high alert being maintained by the Army, Air Force and

Navy.



The briefing in the war room is rare and signals the fact that the military option is still very much on the table. It was preceded by a meeting of the core committee of the ruling United Progressive Alliance front in the 7 Race Course Road residence of the Prime Minister.



In the wake of the Mumbai attacks, the Indian military has gone into a state of high alert, but has not yet taken an offensive posture. In the meanwhile, there has also been a steady stream of intelligence warnings, from both Indian agencies and foreign countries, about several threats. Among them are aerial threats to key installations and the possibility of yet another sea-borne attack.



Sources told DNA that home minister Chidambaram has reviewed with the intelligence chiefs and National Security Advisor details of terrorist camps in Pakistan.



Indian agencies are believed to have the exact coordinates of over a dozen of the major terrorist training camps.



As part of the ongoing state of military preparedness, the non-static Army units have been issued over the past couple of days instructions for the highest state of alert within their present locations, asking them to be ready for mobilization. The units have also been informally instructed to minimize leave during the period. These units, mostly infantry, artillery and armoured battalions, have started carrying out intensive checks of their mobilisation preparedness.



Simultaneously, India has also summoned all its 120 ambassadorshigh commissioners and other heads of missions from all foreign nations. They are to be briefed about the Mumbai attacks and its fallouts and the government’s coercive diplomacy efforts.