Pak's ISI chief Muhammad Asim Malik appointed as National Security Adviser
Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan has appointed spy chief Lt Gen Muhammad Asim Malik as the new National Security Adviser (NSA) amidst raging tension with India.
Malik was appointed as the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in October 2024.
According to a notification issued by the Cabinet Division on Tuesday, General Malik was formally given the task of the NSA.
“Lt Gen Muhammad Asim Malik HI (M), DG (I), shall hold the additional charge of the National Security Adviser, with immediate effect,” the notification stated.
He is the country’s tenth NSA, but it is for the first time that a serving ISI chief was given the task to serve concurrently in the two key positions.
The posting comes amid heightened tensions with India following the recent Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, in which 26 people were killed.
The NSA position had remained vacant since April 2022, when the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government was ousted.
Dr Moeed Yusuf was serving as the NSA at that time.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
India-Pak tensions: Saudi junior foreign minister in Delhi on unannounced visit
New Delhi (PTI): Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Aljubeir is in India on an unannounced visit and held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday with a focus on de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.
Aljubeir's visit to New Delhi comes as the already frosty ties between India and Pakistan plummet further following the Indian military's targeted strikes on nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
"A good meeting with @AdelAljubeir, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia this morning," Jaishankar said in a social media post.
"Shared India's perspectives on firmly countering terrorism," he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also landed in New Delhi around midnight last night on a scheduled visit amid the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.
Araghchi will hold wide-ranging talks with Jaishankar shortly. He is also meeting President Droupadi Murmu in the afternoon.
In retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces on early Wednesday carried out missile strikes on nine terror targets, including Bahawalpur, a stronghold of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit, and Muridke, the base of the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said India decided to carry out the "proportionate" strikes to bring the perpetrators and planners of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack to justice as there was "no demonstrable step" from Pakistan to act against terrorist infrastructure on territories under its control.
