Criticism of the Indian government’s response to last week’s Mumbai attacks had already reached a fevered pace, and led to several high ranking resignations. But if the government hoped public criticism was going to fade after an initial shock of a nearly three day siege and among the worst terrorist attacks in Indian history, US comments put those hopes quickly to bed.
An unnamed senior Bush Administration official revealed today that the US government had provided India advanced notice of a sea-borne attack on Mumbai’s “hotels and business centers.”It appears that the Indian government had been in possession of information of its own about the plot since at least September, including the much played up ties to neighboring Pakistan.
As the government presses Pakistan for “strong action” it seems inevitable that the question will be asked why they failed to take strong action, or apparently any action of their own to prevent the attack in the face of months of advanced warning.