NEW DELHI -- The grisly July 11 Bombay train bombings, the latest in a series of major terrorist attacks in India, are a reminder that the country needs to move from hand-wringing to a credible counterterror strategy against jihadist groups.

Whenever India is tested by the horror of terrorism, it responds in a preset way -- with brave words that serve as a cover to do nothing. Since last October, terrorists have staged major attacks in New Delhi, the high-tech center of Bangalore, the Hindu holy cities of Varanasi and Ayodhya, and now Bombay, the commercial capital. The terrorists have demonstrated they can strike across India at will.

Ever since the 2001 failed attempt by Islamist gunmen to eliminate India's elected leadership by storming the Indian Parliament, the terrorists have settled for an easier way to undermine public morale: indiscriminate attacks on citizens in public places. The bombings in Bombay, like the earlier attack in Bangalore, also appear intended to undermine investor confidence and derail the booming Indian economy.