The top U.S. military commander has left for India and Pakistan to ease the regional tension after the terror attacks hit the Indian city of Mumbai, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday.
"Adm. Mullen is in the area, as is Secretary Rice," Gates said of Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff at a Pentagon news conference.
The trip was expected to coincide with the visit of State Secretary Condoleezza Rice who was scheduled to arrive in India on Wednesday.
However, the Pentagon chief did not disclose further details about Mullen's trip that took place after Mumbai suffered a three-day rampage, leaving 183 dead and hundreds others injured.
Earlier on Tuesday, India urged the Pakistani government to act decisively to turn over militants who should be held accountable with the attacks or it would suspend a peace process with Pakistan beginning in 2004.
Gates said that he would commend the Indians "for their restraint."
When asked about President-elect Barack Obama's timetable for troop withdrawal from Iraq, Gates said that he has been "less concerned about that timetable."
Gates has been opposed to Obama's plan to redeploy all U.S. combat troops in Iraq in the first 16 month after he takes office.
The current defense secretary who was nominated to the post by the Republican government let by President George W. Bush has been invited to stay in the next administration.
Source:Xinhua
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