'After Kasab, we hope Pak will apply rule of law to other 26/11 accused'

Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid said that India had adopted all possible means to inform the Pakistani government about the decision to hang Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, and expressed hope that the trial of other accused in Pakistan would be carried out in an impartial manner. The minister said that the execution of Kasab, who had confessed to being a Pakistani national, was carried out in India after due process of law. [caption id=“attachment_530051” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Screen grab from CNN-IBN[/caption] After the decision to execute Kasab had been taken, the Indian government had attempted to inform the Pakistani Foreign Office of the decision but the messages were not accepted. “We attempted to convey to the Pakistan Foreign Office about the execution,” Khurshid said. After the messages were rejected, the ministry tried another method to send the message to the Pakistani government. “We sent a fax message to the foreign ministry in Pakistan about the intention to carry out the execution,” he said. In addition to the official messages, the government also informed Kasab’s family about the decision to carry out the death sentence. “We had an address (in Pakistan) conveyed by Kasab, and we informed them of our decision as well,” Khurshid said. The minister refused to comment on the legal proceedings taking place in Pakistan against the alleged conspirators involved in planning the terror strikes in Mumbai in 2008. “Frankly speaking, we have allowed rule of law to prevail (in the case of Ajmal Kasab). Similarly we hope rule of law will be followed in Pakistan. There is not vast difference between the criminal procedures in India and Pakistan,” he said. “We hope they will do what it takes to bring closure to an event that has brought enormous distress to our country,” Khurshid said. Among those facing trial in Pakistan include Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed and  others accused of masterminding the attacks that claimed over 160 lives. However, Khurshid refused to comment on allegations that the trial in Pakistan has been proceeding too slowly. The Indian government has also said it was willing to send the gunman’s body to Pakistan if a formal request is received. “If there is any request from Pakistan or Kasab’s family for his body then we will consider it. So far nothing has been received,” Khurshid said. Kasab, the sole gunman involved in the 26 November 2008 terror strikes in Mumbai, was executed in the Yerawada jail in Pune after his plea for clemency was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee. His body has been buried in the Yerawada jail in Pune, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said.