Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today that he was shocked and saddened by the gun attack at a Sikh temple in the US state of Wisconsin in which six people were killed.
Mr Singh is himself a member of the Sikh faith.
"That this senseless act of violence should be targeted at a place of religious worship is particularly painful," he said in a statement.
Mr Singh said he hoped authorities would reach out to the victims' families and work to prevent the recurrence of such violent acts.
The Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee, the top Sikh religious body, said it will send a committee to meet Mr Singh and India's ambassador to the US to demand Sikhs be protected from future attacks.