US President Barack Obama has said India and the US are united against terrorism, as he visited the scene of deadly attacks in Mumbai in 2008, BBC reports.

He said the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, where he and his wife are staying as guests, was a symbol of India's "strength and resilience".

Mr Obama is on the first leg of a 10-day Asian tour designed to boost US exports and create jobs.

He is also due to visit Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.

"We will never forget," Mr Obama said at a memorial to the victims of the attack by Islamic militants.

The outdoor memorial is a fountain with floating flowers just off the lobby of the hotel.

He also wrote in a memorial book: "The United States stands in solidarity with all of Mumbai and all of India in working to eradicate the scourge of terrorism."

More than 170 people died in a series of co-ordinated attacks across the city in November 2008.

Mr Obama said he intended to send a signal by making Mumbai his first stop and by staying at the Taj hotel.

Later, the Obamas visited a museum in a former home of Mahatma Gandhi, seen as the father of Indian independence and revered as a global spiritual leader.

Mr Obama wrote in the guest book that Gandhi "is a hero not just to India, but to the world".

Later on his trip, Mr Obama will announce a "comprehensive partnership" including economic ties in Indonesia, attend a G20 summit of global economic powers in Seoul and participate in an Asia-Pacific economic forum in Yokohama, Japan.