White House condemns attack on Indians as 'racially motivated hatred'

The White House on Tuesday condemned a shooting attack in a Kansas bar that left one Indian man dead and another wounded as an apparent act of "racially motivated hatred".

Srinivas Kuchibhotla and wife Sunayana Dumala Source: AAP

After criticism that President Donald Trump had not condemned the attack, which happened last Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the president may address the question in his maiden address to Congress on Tuesday night and did condemn the violence.

The comments came as grieving family and friends in Hyderabad mourned 32-year-old engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead by a US Navy veteran.

A second Indian engineer was injured by the white man, who allegedly screamed "Get out of my country" as he opened fire at a bar in Olathe. 

The shooting has made headlines in India and the United States, amid concerns that the hardline immigration policies of Trump may have created the climate for such an attack.

The Times of India said in an editorial Monday that the shooting had shocked the Indian community in the US and urged Trump to "make it clear that such hate is not acceptable in his America".