NEW DELHI, INDIA - India for the first time blamed "elements in Pakistan" on Friday for the multiple Islamic attacks on the country's economic hub Mumbai.

The Indian government hadn't specifically named arch rival Pakistan before as having a role in the violence which left at least 130 dead.

"According to preliminary information, some elements in Pakistan are responsible," Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in Jodhpur in the western state of Rajasthan, according to the Press Trust of India.

The charge came as nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, which have fought two out of their three wars over disputed Kashmir, have been engaged in a slow peace process to resolve their differences.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on Thursday blamed the Mumbai assault on a group "based outside the country" which had come with "single-minded determination to create havoc in the commercial capital of the country".

Singh had warned that India would tell any country found to have been involved in the 10-pronged attack "that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated".

He said there would be "a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them".

The statement was widely seen as a veiled accusation of Pakistani involvement.

Pakistan has denied any role in the violence, the most devastating in a series of militant attacks in the past year in India.

India frequently accuses Pakistan of sheltering guerrilla groups which have launched attacks against Indian targets.

The two countries came to the brink of war in 2002 after Pakistan-based militants attacked the Indian parliament in New Delhi in December 2001.

The charge by Mukherjee comes as India's Congress-led government faces general elections by May 2009, which will now likely centre around national security issues.

The government has come under a barrage of criticism over alleged intelligence lapses.

India's Mail Today newspaper said "the country's intelligence agencies had no clue of the impending attack" despite huge spending on anti-terror measures.

Indian media reports have said the country's security agencies believed the attacks in Mumbai were staged by the Islamic militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, which operates out of Pakistan. The group has denied any involvement and condemned the attacks.

The same group was said by India to be one of the outfits involved in the 2001 attack on parliament.

Mukherjee said the Indian premier would speak with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari later in the day, PTI reported.

The minister noted Pakistan had recently assured New Delhi that it would not allow use of its territory for launching attacks against India.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani earlier Friday condemned the attacks in a telephone conversation with his Indian counterpart, telling him his country was also a victim of terrorism.

Gilani telephoned Singh and "strongly condemned the attack", an official in the Pakistani leader's office told AFP.

"Gilani told Singh that Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism and suffering from this menace like India," the official added.

A statement from Gilani's office said he extended his government's full support to India to combat extremism and terrorism.