After Mumbai attacks India's conduct has been statesmanlike: Gates

"I believe that the Indians responded subsequently with a great deal of restraint and have conducted themselves in a very statesmanlike manner since that attack," Gates told reporters on board flying with him on his three-day trip to India.

"I think that the bombing in Mumbai was a really terrible event," he said, hours before landing in New Delhi before his first trip to India as US Defense Secretary in Obama Administration. "Obviously, we would hope that there wouldn't be any more attacks. But I think, even within the framework of that attack and the suspicions that it created, the two sides have managed to keep the tensions between them at a manageable level," Gates said in response to a question.