World | India
Mumbai attack response drew praise from Pakistani diplomat
Leaked cables show acknowledgement of restraint under pressure.
- IANS
- Published: 00:00 December 19, 2010
- Image Credit: AP
- The Taj Mahal hotel burns during a gun battle between soldiers and militants holed up inside the hotel during the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008. The sole surviving attacker, Ajmal Kasab, was sentenced to death by a court in May. India's Supreme Court on Monday, October 10, 2011 stayed the death sentence pending an appeal
New Delhi: A Pakistani diplomat praised India for acting "responsibly and maturely" after the Mumbai terrorist attacks that claimed 166 lives, according to US diplomatic cables obtained by Britain's Guardian newspaper.
The Pakistan High Commission official in New Delhi, who was not named in the cable, praised India for displaying restraint and contrasted it with India's reaction to the bombing of its embassy in Kabul in July 2008.
The cable, dated December 1, 2008 and signed by then US envoy David Mulford analyses India's response against the backdrop of a strong domestic demand for retaliatory action against terrorist camps in Pakistan.
The Pakistani diplomat had said the negative effects of Mumbai attacks on ties between the neighbours — which have had hostile relations since their 1947 independence — would "fizzle out over the next few months", the cable said.
The concluding remarks on the Mumbai attacks fallout by the US embassy read: ‘No military confrontation anticipated'.
The official said the Indian government's reaction to the embassy bombing was "impulsive and politically motivated" as it immediately blamed Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Peace process setback
Over 40 people including two Indian diplomats were killed in the July 2008 suicide attack on the embassy in Kabul while 166 people and nine attackers belonging to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba were killed in the Mumbai attacks in November 2008.
The Mumbai assault, considered the most brazen terrorist attack in India, and often referred to as India's 9/11, led to the suspension of a five-year peace process between the neighbours.
Delhi has pressed Pakistan to include more militant leaders in the investigation including Lashkar-e-Taiba founder, Hafiz Saeed, who it believes was the mastermind of the attacks.
The sole surviving attacker, Ajmal Kasab, was sentenced to death by an Indian court in May. A higher court in Mumbai is hearing arguments to confirm the sentencing.
The Pakistan Army was involved in the Mumbai terrorist attack, national security adviser Shivshankar Menon told the US, according to fresh US embassy cables leaked by WikiLeaks.
"Let's not insult one another by telling a story that the Pakistan Army was not involved" with the Lashkar-e-Taiba group that carried out the 2008 attack, Menon told US assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher.
A US cable reproduced by The Guardian said that Boucher met Menon just weeks after the Mumbai attack that left 166 people dead and ignited fears of an India-Pakistan war.
"The two men were in full agreement on the need to ensure that Pakistan eliminate Laskhar-e-Taiba but disagreed on some tactics," said the cable reporting the meeting.
The cable quoted Menon as bluntly telling Boucher: "They're [Pakistan's army] either unwilling to take action, or incapable, or both; any way you look at it, they're involved."
"Boucher urged Menon to ‘tone down' the Indian rhetoric and avoid any military movements that could be misinterpreted.
Ten terrorists from Pakistan sneaked into Mumbai and went on a killing spree over three days in November 2008.
- With inputs from other agencies
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