As Mumbai witnessed one of the biggest terrorist attacks ever in the country, the rescue team put in all it could to make sure that it bailed out foreign and Indian guests holed up by militants in a luxury hotel.

"They are evacuating everyone," said one Indian woman leaving the Trident-Oberoi hotel with her husband. "Everyone is being taken care of."

The guests were escorted to waiting minibuses by police before being driven away.

The militants, who claimed to be a part of the Deccan Mujahideen, are speculated to have a link with the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, based in Pakistan. But Lashkar-e-Taiba has denied any role in the attacks.

"It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with single-minded determination to create havoc in the commercial capital of the country," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday.

"We will take up strongly with our neighbours that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated, and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them," he said in a televised speech.