US President Barack Obama today called up Prime Minister Minister Manmohan Singh to convey his condolences over the August 5 shooting incident at a gurudwara in Wisconsin in which six people were killed during Sunday morning prayers.
Obama told Singh that the tragic incident would be investigated. He also chose the occasion to appreciate the contributions made by the Sikh community in American society.
Singh on his part thanked the US President for the support extended by the government and people of the US and hoped that measures would be taken to avoid recurrence of such incidents.
Singh stressed that India and the US, as two pluralistic and open societies with respect for religious freedoms, should continue to work against ideologies of violence and hatred.
Various groups in the US had condemned the shooting calling it a “cold-blooded massacre of innocent worshippers“.
A former US Army specialist, with a 9/11 tattoo on his arm, was later identified as the gunman behind the hate crime against the Sikh community in the gurudwara.