Washington DC/IBNS, May 6 -- US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson has backed India in its effort to counter terrorism in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, media reports said.

Johnson called India as a "very important partner" of the US expressing optimism in a trade deal but acknowledged New Delhi's fight against terrorism almost two weeks after 26 tourists were killed at the Baisaran Valley in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.

India gained the US support on a day Pakistan was grilled by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members over the Pahalgam terror attack, nuclear rhetoric and missile tests amid the simmering tension between India and Pakistan.

The UNSC members posed some tough questions to Pakistan over the ...