WASHINGTON, 26 August 2003 — India’s nuclear rival Pakistan and the United States were among the first countries yesterday to condemn deadly twin car bombings a few hours earlier in Bombay and express sympathy and support to New Delhi.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell called Indian Foreign Minister Yaswant Sinha to discuss the car bomb blasts in Bombay which killed at least 56 and injured 150, officials said in Washington.
Powell expressed his “condolences” and conveyed “outrage at these senseless and cowardly terrorist bombings,” said a State Department official.“He expressed hope that the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice.”
Pakistan was also among the first countries to deplore what it referred to as “an act of terror.” “We deplore these attacks and we sympathize with the victims and their families,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan told a weekly press conference in Islamabad.
“We condemn all acts of terror and I think that such wanton targeting of civilians should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.” The car bombs went off yesterday afternoon near Mumbadevi Temple and at the Gateway of India, one of Bombay’s leading monuments and most popular tourist sites.
Powell only narrowly managed to defuse a fourth conflict last year after India accused Pakistan of the bloody storming of its parliament building in New Delhi in December 2001.
In Brussels EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana condemned the bombings and said those responsible must be brought to justice.
“I am shocked by and strongly condemn today’s terror attacks against innocent civilians in Bombay. There can be no justification for such acts,” he said in a statement. “I hope those responsible will be brought to justice,” Solana added, sending his condolences to the families of the victims and the Indian government.
In London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned the bombings and called on the international community to fight the “poison” of terrorism.
Singapore, another country with close historic, cultural and economic ties with India, also was among the first countries to condemn the bombings.
