Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani on Wednesday expressed disappointment over US President George W Bush's 'failure' to mention India as a victim of terrorism in his UN General Assembly speech.

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"While violence for the purpose of vendetta or to settle political scores has been known to the world for a long time, the growth of terrorism as a weapon to achieve political objectives is a recent phenomenon," he said.

The deputy prime minister said while the whole world had become acutely aware of terrorist organisations like Al Qaeda and Taliban after the September 11 terror attacks in the US, "there is still lack of realisation that state-sponsored terrorism is worse than terrorist organisations."

Advani was talking to reporters on board a special aircraft on his way to Kochi, where he is scheduled to participate in Mata Amritanandamayi's 50th birthday celebrations.

Advani said: "I wish the world would become acutely aware of the fact that for India, ISI, which is a limb of the State of
Pakistan, is more dangerous than Al Qaeda or Taliban."

Asked about gangster Dawood Ibrahim's presence in Pakistan and whether India will take it up with Interpol, Advani avoided a direct response and said the Central Bureau of Investigation Chief P C Sharma is leaving to attend an Interpol conference.

On Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf repeadtedly denying Dawood's presence in Pakistan, Advani said: "I know that...we have in fact conveyed to them even the telephone numbers he [Dawood] uses. Sometimes he is in Karachi, sometimes he is in Islamabad."

About the recent statement of a Pakistani minister confirming the gangster's presence and business interests in Pakistan, the deputy prime minister said: "It only confirms what we have been conveying to the world all these years. It is an official confirmation or rather official admission of something we have been saying for years and which was till now being denied by Pakistan, including by the head of the state. He [Musharraf] formally denied it to me," Advani said.