The US is committed to pursuing justice on behalf of the victims of the 2008 Mumbai attack no matter how “arduous” the task is, said Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal.

“We have certainly reiterated our support and our commitment to India‘s efforts to seek justice on behalf of the victims” of the 26/11 attack, Biswal told PTI when asked about the delay in bringing to justice the perpetrators of the 2008 terror attacks.

Given that nearly seven years have passed since the horrendous terror attacks that claimed over 160 lives and injured many others, Ms Biswal said “It is not an easy path and it never has been for these kinds of acts. The (path) of justice sometimes is very long and arduous but we are committed to pursuing that no matter how long the journey and how arduous the task”.

Biswal, who had travelled to the city from Washington to speak at the Indian Consulate General’s Media-India Lecture Series on Tuesday, said not only were there a large number of Indian victims in the attack but there were Americans also who lost their lives.

“We will continue to work very closely with the Indian government on those issues,” she said, adding that it is an ongoing process and the US is working with Indian authorities to address issues of concern emanating from the incident.

On terror attack in Punjab‘s Gurdaspur

Referring to the terror attack in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district on July 27, Ms Biswal said the US has strongly condemned and expressed its concern over the attack.

She said the US has expressed its cooperation with Indian authorities on any specific aspects of the incident.

“But the broader issue is the increasing and deepening cooperation between our law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies and between our governments at large to address the broader problems of terrorism and extremism and our partnerships across the region to try to address these issues,” she said.

On media reports that the night vision device used by three terrorists in the Gurdaspur attack had US markings, Ms Biswal said the US is in conversation with Indian authorities to try to ascertain and trace the origins of the equipment found.

“We will continue to work very closely with the Indian government on those issues,” she said, adding that it is an ongoing process and the US is working with Indian authorities to address issues of concern emanating from the incident.