PTI
Washington, Dec 1: President George Bush is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to India this week as a "further demonstration" of US solidarity with New Delhi in the wake of terror attacks in Mumbai, the White House announced on Sunday.
Rice will arrive in New Delhi on Wednesday, on the heels of an already scheduled trip to attend a NATO meeting in Brussels Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said.
"President Bush has asked Secretary Rice to travel to India this week in the wake of the terror attacks that killed nearly 200 people, including six American citizens," Perino said in a statement.
Rice was to depart on Sunday night for London, and then attend a NATO meeting on Tuesday in Brussels before travelling on to India arriving in New Delhi on Wednesday, the statement said.
"Secretary Rice's visit to India is a further demonstration of the United States' commitment to stand in solidarity with the people of India as we all work together to hold these extremists accountable," it said.
In a telephone call earlier on Sunday Bush told Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the United States was swinging behind India's efforts to track down those responsible for the deadly attacks.
"President Bush told the prime minister that he has directed the State and Defense departments along with other federal agencies to devote the necessary resources and personnel to this situation," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.
Bush told Singh "we would all be working together, with the international community, to go after these extremists," Johndroe said.
Bush also told the Indian leader that he believed "out of this tragedy can come an opportunity to hold these extremists accountable and demonstrate the world's shared commitment to combat terrorism."
The Indian government has pointed the finger at "elements in Pakistan," and security sources say they believe most if not all the highly-trained gunmen were Pakistani.
Security officials have said they believed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind the extremely well-planned assault, which took thousands of Indian commandos, police and soldiers 60 hours to stop.
But Pakistan, a key US ally which has fought two wars with India over Kashmir, moved quickly to deny any links with the attacks. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari urged India not to "over-react."