Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday condemned the killings of Japanese citizens Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa by the Islamic State (IS) militants.
An official statement issued here termed the killings as "gruesome and unfortunate" and quoted Modi "strongly condemning" them.
"Prime Minister's thoughts and prayers are with families of Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa," it said.
The IS militants, in a short video clip, had Sunday claimed to have executed freelance journalist and filmmaker Kenji Goto, 47, Saturday after his compatriot Haruna Yukawa was killed by them only a few days back. Goto had gone to Syria in October 2014 to secure Yukawa's release.