THE newly appointed national security adviser, Duncan Lewis, has urged the Pakistani Government to do more to combat terrorism, saying the Mumbai attackers were well-trained, highly organised and came via Pakistan.

Mr Lewis, a former SAS commander, would not say whether he believed the militants behind last week's attacks received direct support from Pakistan's army or intelligence agency.

"We do know that these individuals came through the state of Pakistan," he said yesterday. "There is no question that the attack on Mumbai was an extraordinarily well-organised and deliberate attack … It would not be the work of novices."

Asked whether Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency was involved, he said: "I am not really prepared to speculate on how far back the linkages go … into the Afghanistan or Pakistani state."

Mr Lewis, who has overseen special forces operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and was a senior adviser to John Howard, was promoted this week to be Kevin Rudd's national security adviser. He will oversee the co-ordination of the security and intelligence agencies - as outlined in Mr Rudd's inaugural national security statement on Thursday - and has been elevated from deputy secretary to associate secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

"It is no … surprise that something would happen in India or anywhere on the subcontinent," Mr Lewis said. "It is a sober reminder to us of the long-term nature of the terrorist threat."

Indian officials have blamed the Mumbai attacks on the Islamist militant group, Lashkar-e-Toiba, and accused Pakistan's intelligence service of providing training and support.

Mr Lewis said Australian agencies closely monitored Lashkar-e-Toiba but did not believe they posed a domestic threat.

"[The LET] is very much a visible player in this international terrorism space," he said. "No, I don't think [they are a threat in Australia]. Not in any sort of overt way. I would not want to go into the details. They are one of the organisations which we are particularly interested in and we obviously watch very carefully."