ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top civilian and military leaders will carry out a security review on Friday on the standoff with Iran, the information minister said, after the neighbors carried out drone and missile strikes on militant bases in each other’s territory.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar will chair a meeting of the National Security Committee, with all the military services chiefs in attendance, the minister, Murtaza Solangi, told Reuters by telephone.
It aims at a “broad national security review in the aftermath of the Iran-Pakistan incidents,” Solangi said. Kakar cut short a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos and flew home on Thursday.
The tit-for-tat strikes by the two countries are the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and have raised alarm about wider instability in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7.
However, both sides have already signalled a desire to cool tensions, the highest in years, although they have had a history of rocky relations.
Iran said Thursday’s strikes killed nine people in a border village on its territory, including four children. Pakistan said the Iranian attack on Tuesday killed two children.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the two nations to exercise maximum restraint. The US also urged restraint although President Joe Biden said the clashes showed that Iran is not well liked in the region.
Islamabad said it hit bases of the separatist Baloch Liberation Front and Baloch Liberation Army, while Tehran said its drones and missiles targeted militants from the Jaish al Adl (JAA), a third group.
The targeted militant groups operate in an area that includes Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan and Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province. Both are restive, mineral-rich and largely underdeveloped.
The groups which Islamabad targeted inside Iran have been waging an armed insurgency for decades against the Pakistani state, including attacks against Chinese citizens and investments in Balochistan.
The JAA, which Iran targeted, is also an ethnic militant group, but with Sunni Islamist leanings that primarily Shiite Iran sees as a threat.
The group, which has had links to Islamic State, has carried out attacks in Iran against its powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, Iran and its allies had been flexing their muscles in the region, even before its cross-border incursion into Pakistan.
Iran launched strikes on Syria against what Tehran said were Islamic State sites, and Iraq, where it said it had struck an Israeli espionage center.
The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen have targeted shipping in the Red Sea since November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.
Pakistan’s civil, military leaders to review Iran standoff — minister
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Pakistan’s civil, military leaders to review Iran standoff — minister
- Neighbours carried out drone and missile strikes on militant bases in each other’s territory this week
- PM Kakar cut short a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos and flew home on Thursday
Pakistan’s deputy PM discusses trans-Afghan railway with Uzbek foreign minister
- Envisioned in 2021, the project is expected to improve trade relations among all three countries
- Ishaq Dar discusses the modalities for early finalization of the project’s framework agreement
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar held a phone call with his Uzbek counterpart on Saturday to discuss steps toward advancing the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (UAP) railway project, including the framework agreement and its signing mechanism, said the foreign office.
The UAP railway is a trilateral initiative aimed at enhancing regional connectivity by linking Central Asia with Pakistan’s southern ports of Gwadar and Karachi through Afghanistan.
Envisioned in 2021, the project is expected to improve trade access for landlocked countries and bolster economic integration in the region.
“Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, held a telephone conversation today with Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister, Saidov Bakhtiyor Odilovich @FM_Saidov,” the foreign office said in a social media post on X.
“They discussed the modalities for early finalization of the framework agreement for the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (UAP) Railway Line Project, including details of its signing ceremony in consultation with leadership of Afghanistan,” it added.
The conversation came a day after Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to upgrade diplomatic relations, with Islamabad announcing it would elevate its chargé d’affaires in Kabul to ambassadorial rank. Kabul said it would reciprocate the move.
Ties between the two countries have been tense in recent years, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan’s Taliban administration of harboring militants involved in cross-border attacks, leading to a deportation drive against undocumented Afghan nationals.
The Taliban have denied facilitating any violence inside Pakistan and criticized the deportations.
Efforts to ease tensions between the two neighboring countries also gained momentum in recent months. During a trilateral meeting with Chinese officials in Beijing, Pakistan and Afghanistan announced plans to exchange ambassadors.
Afghan authorities have also said Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is due to visit Pakistan “in the coming days.”
The UAP railway, first agreed in February 2021, envisions a 573-kilometer track linking Tashkent to Peshawar via Kabul, with an estimated cost of $4.8 billion.
The project faces significant logistical challenges, including security concerns in Afghanistan and the need to reconcile different railway gauges across the three countries.
However, Pakistan has already sent agricultural consignments to Uzbekistan last year.
Implementation of the UAP railway is expected to further deepen trade ties among the three nations.
Pakistan concludes pre-Hajj flight operation with over 115,000 pilgrims flown to Saudi Arabia
- The country launches special Hajj flight operation each year to assist pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia
- The operation involves multiple airlines and serves pilgrims under both government and private schemes
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has successfully concluded its 33-day pre-Hajj flight operation, with more than 115,000 pilgrims transported to Saudi Arabia ahead of this year’s pilgrimage, the state media reported on Saturday.
The country arranges special Hajj flights annually to facilitate thousands of Pakistani Muslims traveling to the Kingdom for the pilgrimage. The operation involves both government and private schemes, as well as coordination with multiple airlines to ensure smooth transit.
The final flight, PK-759 from Karachi, carrying 307 pilgrims, landed in Jeddah at 6:55 PM local time, the state-owned Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency said.
“Under the Government Hajj Scheme, as many as 88,260 intending pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia via 342 flights from various cities of Pakistan,” APP quoted the religious affairs ministry spokesperson, Muhammad Umar Butt, as saying.
“Similarly, over 27,000 [pilgrims] arrived in the holy land under the Private Hajj Scheme,” he added.
The Hajj flights were operated by a range of air carriers including Pakistan International Airlines, Saudi Airlines, SereneAir, Airblue and AirSial.
The spokesperson said to support the pilgrims during the five key days of Hajj, the ministry has deployed approximately 470 coordinators, with each assigned to a group of 188 to 200 pilgrims.
Each coordinator will remain with their designated group throughout the pilgrimage, helping its members during the journey from Mina to Arafat, Muzdalifah, Jamarat and back to Makkah.
This year, Hajj rituals will commence on June 4, with the Day of Arafah on June 5, and Eid Al-Adha observed on June 6 in Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan says 96% of children vaccinated in ongoing anti-polio drive
- Pakistan launched the campaign after 74 children were diagnosed with polio last year
- Balochistan offered swings and camel rides in Quetta to draw children for vaccination
KARACHI: Polio vaccinations continued across Pakistan for the sixth consecutive day on Saturday, with 96% of targeted children receiving doses during the first five days of the campaign, the country’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said in a statement.
Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world where polio is still endemic, alongside neighboring Afghanistan.
Efforts to eliminate the disease have been hampered by parental refusals, widespread misinformation and repeated attacks on polio workers by militant groups.
In remote and volatile areas, vaccination teams often operate under police protection, though security personnel themselves have also been targeted during these campaigns.
“During the first five days, 96% of children across the country have been administered polio drops,” the NEOC said at the start of the campaign’s sixth day.
“The vaccination campaign is underway simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” it continued, adding this was to curb cross-border transmission of the virus, especially in frontier regions where mobility between the two countries remains high.
According to Pakistani officials, the current vaccination drive aims to reach more than 45 million children nationwide. It is part of Pakistan’s intensified response following a sharp uptick in cases last year, when 74 children were diagnosed with the crippling virus.
Ten cases have been reported so far in 2025, prompting authorities to step up outreach and door-to-door campaigns.
According to the NEOC, provincial breakdowns so far show 97% coverage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 96% in both Punjab and Balochistan, 94% in Sindh, 98% in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 101% in Gilgit-Baltistan, where more children were reached than initially estimated.
Islamabad reported 97% coverage.
In Balochistan, the country’s most underdeveloped province that reported 27 cases last year, local authorities introduced recreational activities such as free swings and camel rides in Quetta to attract children and facilitate their vaccination.
The effort drew large crowds, allowing teams to immunize children while they took part in the festivities.
“This initiative is critically important as we enter the high-transmission season,” said Ziaur Rehman, spokesperson for Pakistan’s Polio Program. “It will play a key role in timely containment of the virus.”
He urged parents to ensure that all children under five receive polio drops to protect them from lifelong disability.
PM Sharif announces 25% federal development share for insurgency-hit Balochistan
- The prime minister calls for efforts to bring back ‘misguided’ individuals who have joined militant groups
- He recognizes Balochistan’s history of economic deprivations but says ‘terrorists’ know nothing but brutality
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said Pakistan’s restive southwestern province of Balochistan will receive 25% share from the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) in the upcoming budget, as the government continues to grapple with a decades-long separatist insurgency that has surged in recent years.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least populated province, is strategically significant as the centerpiece of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a major infrastructure development and regional connectivity initiative linking western China to the Arabian Sea.
While the state touts CPEC as a game-changer for the region’s development, Baloch separatist groups accuse the government of exploiting the province’s vast mineral resources without benefiting the local population. Officials reject the narrative, pointing to ongoing investments in various sectors aimed at improving livelihoods.
Sharif announced the allocation while addressing a grand jirga, an assembly of provincial elders and influential figures alongside top military leadership, in Quetta, where he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to Balochistan’s development.
“I think that PSDP will be of Rs1,000 billion [in the next budget],” he told the gathering. “So, out of this [amount], a fund of approximately Rs250 billion is for Balochistan alone. That is, 25% of the total federal PSDP for Balochistan.”
The PSDP is Pakistan’s central development program used to fund infrastructure, energy, education and other long-term public investment projects across the country.
It includes both federal initiatives and financial support for provincial projects, particularly in underdeveloped regions like Balochistan.
The prime minister said the allocation was the province’s “right.”
“Along with this,” he continued, “these resources should be used transparently, whether it is Gwadar, whether it is Pasni, whether it is Chaman, whether it is Killa Saifullah, whether it is Quetta, whether it is Jhal Magsi or any other areas,” he continued. “Every single penny there should be used honestly for the development and prosperity of the people.”
Addressing the challenge of militancy in the province, Sharif said efforts must continue to bring back “misguided” individuals who had joined militant groups.
He acknowledged Balochistan’s history of economic deprivation, while reiterating that those engaged in violence offer no solutions.
“Terrorists do not know anything but brutality,” he said.
Calling for national unity, Sharif maintained: “Let’s sit together and talk. It is only by sitting together that a family becomes strong and prosperous. No evil eye can harm a united household.”
Pakistan to set up maritime chamber to boost blue economy, promote greener ports
- Maritime minister says new chamber will unite industry to drive sustainable growth and long-term economic resilience
- Pakistan aims to grow its blue economy through sustainable use of ocean resources for jobs and ecosystem health
KARACHI: The Pakistan government on Saturday announced the creation of a new Maritime Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) to promote sustainable development in the country’s coastal and marine sectors, saying the initiative would help strengthen the country’s blue economy while addressing rising climate risks at its ports.
Addressing the Pakistan Business Council Forum, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said Pakistan’s coastal zones were increasingly exposed to environmental challenges such as rising sea levels, extreme weather events and marine degradation.
The new chamber, he noted, would serve as a specialized platform for uniting stakeholders from across the maritime spectrum to pursue greener policies and long-term economic resilience.
“This chamber will not only support investment and innovation in the maritime sector but also prioritize sustainability at ports, promote green technologies and foster carbon reduction strategies,” he told the participants of the forum.
Pakistan is striving to strengthen blue economy by ensuring the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, jobs and ecosystem health.
This requires the authorities to enhance the potential of its ports, fisheries, logistics and marine services while reducing environmental harm.
The new chamber is expected to provide a unified institutional voice for sectors ranging from shipping to coastal tourism, helping to align business incentives with climate adaptation goals.
Pakistan has been pushing to modernize its port infrastructure and expand its role in regional trade by improving cargo handling, digitalizing port operations and encouraging public-private partnerships.
The country has also invited landlocked Central Asian states to use its ports to access global markets, aiming to position itself as a regional trade hub.
The Pakistan Business Council welcomed the announcement, calling the new chamber a critical step toward building a climate-resilient and economically vibrant maritime economy.
