World

On Wednesday, the Pakistan High Commission gave the visa to Kulbhushan Jadhav's mother and wife to meet him. It is believed that on 25th December Jadhav could be met to his wife and mother.

A military court in Pakistan has sentenced Jadhav to death in the case of espionage and terrorism and he is currently lodged in a Pakistani jail.

Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faizal said, "In New Delhi, the Pakistan High Commission gave the visa to Jadhav's mother and wife to visit Islamabad to meet him."

On December 17, 2017, Pakistan had said that got the visa application of Jadhav's mother and wife and it has been extended. Jadhav's mother and wife are likely to arrive in Pakistan via the Bagha border on Saturday. Sources said during a meeting on Monday, the National Security Committee of Pakistan had granted visas to Jadhav's mother Avantika Jadhav and his wife.

Then the Indian government had said that Jadhav's wife and his mother and an Indian diplomat should also be allowed to go. Jadhav's mother filed a visa application before the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi earlier this year.

Pakistan claims that Indian Navy commander Jadhav was working for India's leading intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Islamabad says it was caught by Law Enforcement Agencies in Balochistan, Pakistan on March 3, 2016. India has said that Jadhav is a former naval officer and he was not working for RAW.

Pakistan's military court has sentenced Jadhav to death on charges of espionage. However, the International Court has banned it in its order. New Delhi has insisted on the demand for providing a lawyer to Jadhav, but Islamabad has refused to allow permission on such grounds that such help is not applicable in cases related to spies.

The White House has  said, American tech giants Microsoft  and Facebook acted recently on their own to disrupt the activities of North Korean hackers and prevent the operational execution of ongoing cyberattacks in the US.

White House Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert said, US President Donald Trump had rallied allies and responsible tech companies around the world to increase the security and resilience of the Internet.  Bossert said, North Korea has done everything wrong as an actor on the global stage that a country can do.

Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Bajwa has said that he will resign if the military was found involved in the recent widespread protests by hardline religious groups which paralysed the capital Islamabad for weeks. About two thousand activists of the Tehreek-i-Labaik and its allied groups staged protests and sit-ins, disrupting road and rail traffic.

The protest ended after the Army organised talks between the government and protesters which led to the resignation of Law Minister Hamid. There were insinuations about the role of Army in the episode after a video clip surfaced showing a senior Army officer giving money to protesters.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Pope Francis have discussed the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, as well as the former’s role as custodian of the city’s holy sites. The Vatican said the pair had cordial conversations focused above all on the theme of the promotion of peace and stability in the Mideast, with particular reference to the question of Jerusalem.

Francis called for respect of the status quo in Jerusalem earlier this month following US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, warning against a new spiral of violence. Abdullah has denounced the Jerusalem announcement as a violation of international rights.

The United States has appealed to Myanmar for the voluntary and respectful return of Rohingya Muslims from Bangladesh. However, the US believes that conditions are not conducive to taking such a step. In the last six months, 625,000 Rohingya Muslims have been forced to take refuge in Bangladesh by fleeing from Myanmar's Rakhine province.

The US has expressed concern over the chief conspirator of Mumbai terror attacks Hafiz Saeed coming to politics in Pakistan.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Saeed had earlier said that he will contest from his organization Milli Muslim League.

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Knutter told reporters in Washington that the United Nations and the United States have declared Sayeed a terrorist.

Heather said that Saeed was released from internment in Pakistan last month and now the news of his landing in the elections is worrisome for the US.

China and Russia have criticised the United States for its new national security strategy that labels both countries as competitors challenging American interests.

China yesterday said the new strategy outlined by US President Donald Trump demonstrated a Cold War mentality. Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for Chinese Foreign Ministry said they urge the US side to stop deliberately distorting China’s strategic intentions and abandon such outdated concepts as the Cold War mentality and the zero-sum game otherwise it will only end up harming itself as well as others.

Russia also was critical of Trump’s new strategy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that new US security strategy shows an unwillingness to give up the idea of a unipolar world – moreover, an insistent unwillingness, disregard for a multipolar world. On Monday, President Trump unveiled his new national security plan that promised to prioritise US economic interests and pursue peace through strength.

US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson has warned that Pakistan’s political leadership would lose control over the country if it does not begin the process of changing its relationship with the Haqqani Network and other terror groups having safe havens in Pakistan.

In his remarks on 'Meeting the Foreign Policy Challenges of 2017 and Beyond' organised by the 2017 Atlantic Council- Korea Foundation Forum in Washington, Rex Tillerson said Pakistan has allowed so many terrorist organisations to find safe haven within its territories, and these organisations are growing in size and influence. He said Pakistan’s relationship with the Haqqani Network needs to be altered.

Rex Tillerson said US want to work with Pakistan to stamp out terrorism within their boundaries as well, but Islamabad has to begin the process of changing its relationship with the Haqqani Network and others.

The United States has elevated its engagement with India as part of its effort of free and open Indo-Pacific, he said.

He further said US had a long trilateral relationship in the Indo-Pacific between Japan, Australia, and Washington is now working towards whether this will become a quad relationship to include India because of the importance of India’s rising economy as well shared national security concerns that US have with India.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, OIC has rejected the United States’ decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Speaking at the opening of an extraordinary OIC summit in Istanbul yesterday, the group’s secretary general, Yousef al-Othaimeen, urged Muslim leaders to work together to present a united response to the move.

He said, the OIC rejects and condemns the American decision which is a violation of international law and it will create a situation of instability in the region and the world.

Speaking at the summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged leaders of Muslim nations to recognise Jerusalem as the ''occupied capital of the Palestinian state''. He said, the US decision to recognise the city as Israel’s capital was ''null and void''.

Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas, in his address, called the decision of US President Donald Trump a flagrant violation of international law.

In Iran, the Kerman province was hit by multiple strong quakes last evening and early this morning, injuring at least 18 people and damaging some 20 houses.

State media reported that the first quake of 5.9 magnitude struck a city with a population of around 8 lakh 20 thousand. The tremor, initially reported as a 6.2 magnitude before it was revised downward, was followed by dozens of smaller aftershocks.