The last surviving Pakistani gunman of the 2008 terror attack on Mumbai was hanged on Wednesday morning.
Mohammad Ajmal Kasab was a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Islamist militant group behind the “26/11” attacks on three five-star hotels, Mumbai’s main railway station, a cafe and a Jewish center. Kasab was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Foreign Minister Salman Kurshid said Wednesday’s execution was “inevitable” and described the crime as “an extremely unpleasant and unhappy event that caused an enormous amount of distress to our country and a tremendous amount of tragic loss to our people”.
“We have the rule of law in our country and we hope and expect that the rule of law will prevail in Pakistan as well,” he said.
India severed peace talks with Pakistan after the assault, which claimed the lives of 166 people dead and injured 300.
While the two countries attempted to repair ties by promoting bilateral trade and easing visa requirements, India claimed that the Pakistani government had not done enough to clamp down on extremist groups.
Pakistani officials had insisted that they did not support the Lashkar-e-Taiba and that the execution did not hold much sway in their relations.
