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ISLAMABAD: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday urged Pakistan and India to pursue “meaningful and efficient dialogue” to avoid future conflict, warning that an air war between the neighbors earlier this year highlighted the “severe” risks of escalation between two nuclear-armed states. 

In May 2025, the most intense India–Pakistan military confrontation in decades erupted following an April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people. New Delhi, without providing evidence, said Islamabad was behind the assault, which denies the charge.

India responded on May 7 by launching a series of airstrikes targeting what it called suspected militant infrastructure in Pakistan. Pakistan retaliated with its own drone, artillery, and missile strikes. After four days of hostilities, a US-mediated ceasefire was agreed on May 10, halting the confrontation amid global alarm over the risk of escalation.

“In April-May, there has been tension experienced between Pakistan and India, which we closely followed, and all the international society has seen the wisdom-oriented and calm attitude of Pakistan,” Fidan said during a press conference in Islamabad.

“This tension has been an important indicator that when two nuclear powers come face to face that this is going to have very severe results,” he added. 

“We have actually seen this ceasefire as an important decision, and in order to eliminate similar tensions, we believe that there has to be meaningful and efficient dialogue between the parties. As Turkiye, we’re always ready to support this so that there will be peace and there will not be any clashes.”

Fidan, along with the Turkish defense minister, is visiting Pakistan as part of efforts to deepen bilateral ties and discuss regional security challenges, including the ongoing war in Gaza and rising tensions in the Middle East after Israel’s attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities and other targets last month.

“Unfortunately, the attacks have actually shaken the trust first toward the international regime on the prevention of nuclear expansions, and we have actually conveyed our messages to the parties [US, Iran] for the restart of the nuclear negotiations,” Fidan said.

“We’re in constant contact with Pakistan, and both countries are contacting both parties of the conflict. Turkiye believes that there has to be peaceful resolutions through negotiations, and we will continue to have a constructive contribution to this.”

Commenting on the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, which began in October 2023, Fidan said Turkiye condemned the ongoing Israeli attacks and supported an immediate and lasting ceasefire.

“Israel attacks are, and aggressions are, not just a risk for our region but for the whole world. At this current status quo, we do hope that the ceasefire will be permanent,” he said.

He added that the Israeli strikes on Iran had diverted international attention from what he described as the “massacre in Gaza and the genocide in Gaza.”

“Today, we [Turkiye and Pakistan] also discussed about the joint steps that we can take for our Palestinian brothers,” Fidan said.

“Within this plan, the Israel attacks and aggression should end, and we hope that peace will be brought to Gaza and calm will be established. We will continue to support the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause.”

KARACHI: Pakistan will launch a targeted five-day polio vaccination campaign next week, aiming to immunize more than 158,000 children in high-risk districts of the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, health authorities said on Wednesday.

The campaign will be conducted exclusively in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan and the Upper Kohistan, Lower Kohistan, and Kolai-Palas districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC), which oversees Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts.

“Special focus and effective strategies are being applied in high-risk union councils,” the NEOC said in a statement, referring to administrative units where access and vaccine acceptance remain challenging. 

The drive will take place from July 14 to 18.

Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that primarily affects young children and can cause permanent paralysis. There is no cure, but it can be prevented through multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and a complete routine immunization schedule, experts say.

Pakistan, one of only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic, the other being neighboring Afghanistan, has made significant gains in recent decades. Annual cases have fallen dramatically from an estimated 20,000 in the early 1990s to single digits by 2018.

However, the country has witnessed a worrying resurgence recently. As of July 2025, Pakistan has reported 14 polio cases, including eight in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, four in Sindh, and one each in Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan, according to official data. The country reported 74 cases in 2024, raising alarms among health officials and global partners supporting the eradication campaign.

In contrast, only six cases were recorded in 2023 and just one in 2021. 

The latest targeted drive follows smaller vaccination efforts in high-risk areas. A special campaign was conducted last month in six union councils of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district, where approximately 17,500 children were vaccinated. A similar operation is planned for 11 union councils in North Waziristan, another district with a history of polio transmission.

The government conducted three nationwide polio campaigns earlier this year, in February, April, and May, aiming to reach around 45 million children with the help of over 400,000 frontline workers, including 225,000 women vaccinators.

Despite decades of effort, Pakistan’s eradication drive has faced persistent challenges, including misinformation about vaccines and resistance from conservative religious and militant groups who view immunization campaigns with suspicion. Some clerics have claimed the vaccines are a Western conspiracy to sterilize Muslim children or part of intelligence operations.

Vaccination teams and police providing security have also been targeted in militant attacks, particularly in remote and conflict-affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. These threats have at times forced the suspension of campaigns and restricted access to vulnerable populations.

Pakistan launched its national polio eradication program in 1994.