The Indian government "remained steadfast in its desire to combat terrorism in 2003 and worked closely with the United States in this regard", according to the annual US State Department Global Terrorism report.

Several hundred Indian law enforcement officials participated in training as part of the Anti-Terrorism Assistance Programme during the year, in which the Indian government also moved to strengthen its international cooperation in curbing terrorism financing, it said.

In January, Parliament enacted an anti-money laundering law that provides the legal basis for establishing a financial intelligence unit to monitor suspect transactions.

In March, it said, the Indian government announced that 32 terrorist organisations had been listed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and, in July, informed Parliament that 702 persons had been arrested under the act.

The Indian government stepped up its efforts to counter the activities of various groups, the report said, adding that in Jammu and Kashmir, killings of civilians by foreign-based and Kashmiri militant groups continued and included the murder of numerous political leaders and party workers.

The Indian government asserted that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed were behind a number of high-profile attacks in the state, which included the massacre of 24 civilians in southern Kashmir in March and an attack on October 17 outside the chief minister's residence compound in Srinagar.