United States Congressman Ed Royce, a ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism [Images], Non-proliferation and Trade, in condemning the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, said, "It is often said that India and America have a natural bond as the two largest democracies." 

"Today," he said, "we share a bond of a common enemy: what the 9/11 Commission identified as Islamist terrorism."

Royce, a California Republican, whose has a large Indian-American constituency, including many who originally hail from Mumbai, warned that "Islamist ideology is spreading across South Asia, and must be stamped out."

The lawmaker said, "I am confident in the aftermath of these attacks, we will see the resilience that is embodied in the Indian people."

Royce acknowledged that the coordinated terrorist attacks -- the latest in a six-month bombing campaign that has swept across India -- was also an "attack on the economic boom India has enjoyed, reaching growth rates of 9 percent over the past three years."