After the White House drew criticism for not sending a high-ranking official to France for a unity rally, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced that he will visit Paris this week.
As previously reported, the planned march, which took place in France on Sunday drew 40 leaders from all over the world. For the U.S., however, only Ambassador to France, Jane Hartley and the assistant Secretary of State were spotted.
Attorney General Eric Holder was in Paris for a summit, but was absent at the anti-terrorism rally.
CNN noted that the Obama administration took heat for not sending a high-level official abroad. Kerry defended the absence while speaking to reporters in India.
"The U.S. has been deeply engaged with the people of France since this incident occurred," Kerry said. "This is sort of quibbling a little bit in the sense that our assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was there and marched, our ambassador was there and marched, many people from the embassy were there and marched."
Kerry went on to say that he would have liked to have been there himself, but had prior commitments with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He added that he will visit the French capital on Friday.
French President François Hollande also defended the administration and said that the U.S. has been “very present” during this time.
More than 3 million people took part in the rally representing solidarity in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in which 17 people in France lost their lives.