But New Delhi came in for a shelling from Amnesty International, which described the killing of a Christian missionary and two of his sons in Orissa last week as the ``gravest in a long list of acts of violence against religious minorities in India in recent months.''

Amnesty said it has written to both the Gujarat and Union governments, urging them to take action to prevent further violence against persons and property.

"The Indian Government has an obligation to guarantee all its citizens the right to physical security and protection against violence, whether inflicted by state officials or by other individuals or groups," the organization said in a statement today.

Amnesty said it is ``extremely concerned'' that right-wing Hindu political groups and associations, including theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and Bajrang Dal ``have failed to clearly denounce acts of violence and have made public statements which might have incited individuals to violence.''

But in Washington, US officials clearly showed their appreciation and support for the government's response to the crisis.``The attack on Christians is of concern to us, as much as it is, if not more, to the leadership of India. We are pleased but not surprised by the statements by Prime Minister Vajpayee and Home Minister Advani. We support the actions taken and the arrests made,'' Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Karl Inderfurth said at a briefing in Tuesday.

Inderfurth said a US delegation which is leaving for India on Thursday for an eighth round of security related talks would express Washington's concern to the Indian government and also support the action taken.

About the talks itself, Inderfurth said it would not be a ``make or break session.'' "We have no intention ofthrowing in the towel if there is no breakthrough,'' he added.

In remarks in a similar vein, India's ambassador to the US said last week that the talks may go on for 15 rounds -- akin to a boxing match.

The comments appeared to confirm the prognosis of some analysts that the process of normalisation -- not to speak of harmonisation -- between the two sides in the post nuclear test era would be a long drawn out one.