Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, on Saturday met survivors of last November’s terror attacks in Mumbai at the Taj Mahal hotel, where 31 people were killed, in a symbolically charged show of solidarity for India’s fight against terrorism.

The conscious decision to start her five-day visit to India in Mumbai, where 166 people were killed by gunmen, and inside one of the hotels whose interiors became killing fields during siege, have been lauded by Indian officials and Mumbaikers.