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 Delhi, who was not named in the cable, praised India for displaying restraint and contrasted it with Delhi'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).
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.
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