New Delhi, Aug 10 - In an apparent reference to Pakistan, Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta Monday said that 26/11 was the result of the merging of the 'state' with the 'malevolent non-state entities'.

'Today, we have come to live in an era characterised by the rise of insidious and malignant forces which have redefined security responses the world over. And here, I refer here to the rise of the malevolent non-state actor,' Mehta said during a function organised by the National Maritime Foundation in the national capital.

'Even more ominously, the occasional coalescing of the 'state' with malevolent 'non-state' entities has created an evil-hybrid that we might describe as the 'state-sponsored, non-state actor'.

'It is this hybrid that lies at the heart of our current security dilemma, which for India has been made all the more pressing by the tragic events in Mumbai in November of 2008,' he added.