Pakistan on Wednesday rejected India's assertion that it had refused to accept a letter informing it of the decision to execute Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone survivor in the Mumbai attacks, saying Ministry of Foreign Affairs received the note and acknowledged the receipt.
While reacting to the execution of Ajmal Kasab, who was hanged in an Indian jail on Wednesday, Foreign Office spokesman Moazzam Ahmad Khan said that Pakistan was willing to cooperate and work closely with all countries of the region to eliminate scourge of terrorism.
While clarifying Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's statement immediately after Kasab's execution that Pakistan had refused to acknowledge a letter informing it of the decision to hang Kasab, the Foreign Office spokesman dubbed the assertion as "incorrect and baseless". Khan further clarified that the Deputy High Commissioner from Indian High Commission visited Foreign Office on Tuesday evening with the note regarding the execution of Ajmal Kasab and Director General South Asia‚ Ministry of Foreign Affairs received that note and acknowledged the receipt.
Shinde, however, was quoted by Indian media as saying "the External Affairs Ministry through our mission in Islamabad had informed the Pakistan government about Kasab's hanging. When they did not accept the letter, they were communicated through fax". "Pakistan's position on terrorism has been very clear and consistent and it always condemns terrorism in all its forms", said the Foreign Office spokesman. Kasab, hanged in the Indian jail after his several pleas for mercy were rejected by Indian President, was convicted by an Indian court in connection with 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed.