Want to pay tribute to 26/11 victims, Obama on Taj stay

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Nov 3 (PTI) US President Barack Obama has
chosen to stay at the Taj Hotel in the west Indian city of
Mumbai when he arrives on Saturday as a "tribute to the
resilience of the Indian people" and to underscore the shared
commitment of India and the US to counter terrorism.
"By staying at the Taj (hotel), I am pleased to pay
tribute to the resilience of the Indian people, while also
underscoring our shared commitment to counter terrorism,"
Obama told PTI.
He was responding to a question as to what he was trying
to convey by his gesture of landing in Mumbai and staying at
the Taj Hotel, which was attacked by Pakistani terrorists in
November 2008.
"One of the many things that our countries and our people
have in common is that we have both been the victims of
terrorism and we have both overcome it.
"Just like New York and Washington, Mumbai has shown an
amazing resilience and demonstrated that free people cannot be
defeated by terror," the President said.
He said it should not be forgotten that just as Indian
citizens were killed in the attack on the World Trade Centre,
so too, six Americans were killed during the attack on Mumbai.
Also, one of the victims of the American Embassy in Kenya in
1998 was an American diplomat who was born in India.
"So Americans and Indians understand that terrorism can
never be justified and must be defeated," he underlined. PTI