International News
Shehbaz Sharif government in damage control mode on Pakistan-United States relations
ormer Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had accused the United States of conspiring against him to oust him from power because of his inclination towards Russia, and refusal to being party to the Western bloc in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Since then, Imran Khan has launched his campaign by holding political gatherings across the major cities of Pakistan, carrying the same anti-US narrative, and publicly slamming the Joe Biden administration for ‘plotting a conspiracy’ against his government, which he said refused to be a slave to Washington’s demands and dictations.
Now, the new government in place under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is working towards mending the damaged ties with the United States.
After Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took office as Foreign Minister along with Hina Rabbani Khar as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Pakistan’s foreign office has been actively reforming its foreign policy and working towards having active contacts with the Joe Biden administration, showing clear signs of siding with the Western bloc with regard to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In a latest, Zardari received a telephone call on Saturday from the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken.
“Secretary Blinken congratulated Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on assumption of his office and expressed the desire to continue strengthening mutually beneficial Pakistan-US bilateral relationship,” read a statement issued by the Pakistan foreign office.
“Zardari underscored that Pakistan and the United States have a longstanding broad-based relationship,” it added.
“Constructive and sustained engagement between the two countries on the basis of mutual respect and mutual interest is vital to promote peace, development and security in the region and beyond,” said Zardari.
“The Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State agreed to remain in contact and enhance engagement on regional and global issues of mutual interest,” the statement read.
On the other hand, Hina Rabbani Khar virtually participated in the high-level International Donor’s Conference for Ukraine on May 5.
Khar also appreciated the efforts for humanitarian assistance for the Ukrainian people, expressing deep concerns over the continuation of war, increasing number of civilian casualties, deteriorating humanitarian situation and refugee crisis.
While Imran Khan continues to take an anti-US stance and accuses the current government of being an imported setup brought into power through an international controversy, the Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government is visibly working on a damage control mode, shaping its foreign policy with a major focus on better relationship with the Western bloc.
Crime
At least 18 killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza
Gaza, Dec 21: At least 18 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the central and northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources.
Local sources and eyewitnesses reported that Israeli warplanes targeted an apartment in the multi-story “Yaffa” tower in the al-Nuseirat camp, located in central Gaza.
A statement from Al-Awda Hospital in the camp confirmed that eight people were killed and 14 others injured, some seriously, in the attack.
In northern Gaza, Israeli shelling struck a house belonging to the “Khilla” family in Jabalia Al-Balad, killing 10 people and injuring several others, according to the Gaza Strip’s Civil Defence.
The Israeli army has not commented on these incidents.
Also on Friday, the military wing of Hamas, Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that one of its fighters had carried out a suicide attack targeting an Israeli force of six soldiers in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza.
The Israeli army has not issued a comment on this incident.
Earlier on Thursday at least 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombings in northern Gaza, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.
At least 10 people were killed on Wednesday night and some others injured when the Israeli aircraft bombed the house of the Al-Najjar family in the town of Jabalia, WAFA said.
Six more people were killed due to Israeli bombing on the house of the Al-Zaytouniya family near the Al-Tabi’in School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, east of Gaza City, it added.
The Israeli army has not commented on these incidents.
Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza in retaliation for the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault on southern Israel, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 250 hostages taken.
As of Friday, the Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza has risen to 45,206, according to Gaza-based health authorities.
International News
Khalistani separatist Pannun’s threat to Indian ambassador ‘serious’ issue, taken up with US: MEA
New Delhi, Dec 20: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday revealed that New Delhi has taken “seriously” the latest threat issued by the US-based Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun against India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra and raised it accordingly with the authorities in Washington.
In a recent video, Pannun threatened that Kwatra is on the radar of pro-Khalistani Sikhs in America for allegedly coordinating with Russian authorities, who in turn were providing inputs to Indian intelligence agencies on the Khalistani network in the United States.
“As and when such threats are issued, we take them very seriously and raise them with the US government. In this particular case also, we have raised it with the US government and it is our expectation that the United States government will take our security concerns seriously and act on it,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi on Friday.
A former Foreign Secretary, Kwatra took charge as India’s Ambassador to the United States in August this year, succeeding Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
His appointment came at a time when Khalistani separatists continue to target Hindu community in the country and also the Indian missions.
Khalistanis have been found to be involved in incidents of defacement of temples, including in California and New York, and also in acts of arson and vandalism at the Indian embassy in San Francisco.
Several lawmakers, including Shri Thanedar – a Democrat elected to the House of Representatives from Michigan state – have raised alarm over the “substantial increase” in attacks on Hindus and their places of worship in the United States.
The lawmaker had recently expressed frustration with the investigating agency for their failure to find the culprits behind the incidents at the temples and the consulate.
“It appears to be a very coordinated effort to attack these places of worship which has created a lot of fear in the community. And often what we have seen is that the law enforcement, the local law enforcement enters into these investigations and rarely any suspects have been identified, and that investigation goes nowhere.
“What that does is that it leaves the community feeling like nobody cares about them. Nobody reports back to them on what’s going on. And that means that the community continues to live in fear, the computing community continues to live in an adverse situation with essentially no help from law enforcement,” he said.
The lawmaker went on to state that he and his colleagues are asking the US Department of Justice for “coordinated efforts between the local law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Department of Justice, and higher priority needs to be assigned to such hate crimes against this peaceful community”.
International News
Yemen’s Houthis claim fresh drone attack on Israel’s Tel Aviv
Sanaa, Dec 20: Yemen’s Houthi group said it launched a drone attack against a military target in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv and “successfully achieved its goal.”
“We are ready for a long war with the Israeli enemy,” Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV on Thursday, adding, “Our operations will not stop until Israeli aggression on Gaza stops.”
Israel has not yet commented on the Houthi claim. Earlier in the day, Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in northern Yemen, destroying two major power stations in the capital city, Sanaa, and bombing imported fuel storage in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.
The Houthi group said nine people were killed by the Israeli airstrikes at dawn on Hodeidah’s ports of Ras Isa and As-Salif, and three others were injured.
The strikes at dawn dealt a major blow to the Houthi group, which controls much of northern Yemen, as it uses the ports of Ras Isa and As-Salif to import fuel and cooking gas and sell them to the residents in the areas under their control.
Israeli Defense Forces Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on the social media platform X that the Israeli army had conducted “precise strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen,” which came after the Houthis launched a long-range rocket at Tel Aviv on Wednesday night.
The Houthi group has been controlling much of northern Yemen since late 2014, forcing the internationally recognised Yemeni government out of Sanaa.
Since November 2023, the Houthi group has been carrying out rocket and drone attacks against Israeli cities and disrupted “Israeli-linked” shipping in the Red Sea, allegedly to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid their ongoing conflict with Israelis.
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