bilawal: Bilawal becomes Pakistan foreign minister
ISLAMABAD: Former PM Benazir Bhutto’s son and Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took oath on Wednesday as foreign minister in PM Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet, which also has Hina Rabbani Khar as the minister of state for foreign affairs.
President Arif Alvi administered the oath in the presence of the PM Sharif at a ceremony that was attended by cabinet members and senior politicians, including the 33-yearold Bilawal’s father and former president Asif Ali Zardari and younger sister Aseefa.
Aseefa described her brother as the country’s youngest foreign minister in a post on Twitter. “Congratulations to the youngest foreign minister in Pakistan’s history @BBhuttoZardari. The task is daunting, and the previous government have hurt our international standing but I have no doubt that you will make our country, party, and familyproud.”
Explaining his decision of joining the cabinet, Bilawal recently said it was now time for all political parties to put on a united front, as “one-sided decision making” was no longer possible.
“We have to understand that this isn’t an ordinary coalition government. This unity government is a result of the parties on the opposition benches going to the treasury benches for the first time in the history of Pakistan. ” On Tuesday, the PPP chairman regretted that ousted PM Imran Khan’s “foreign conspiracy” narrative had hurt Pakistan’s image on international forums.
Among the main challenges, Bilawal needs to fix strained ties with the US whom Khan had targeted and find a way to restart the stalled peace process with neighbouring India. His first foreign mission in the role will be accompanying Shehbaz on Thursday to Saudi Arabia, a key trade partner and regular source of relief for Pakistan’s struggling economy.
President Arif Alvi administered the oath in the presence of the PM Sharif at a ceremony that was attended by cabinet members and senior politicians, including the 33-yearold Bilawal’s father and former president Asif Ali Zardari and younger sister Aseefa.
Aseefa described her brother as the country’s youngest foreign minister in a post on Twitter. “Congratulations to the youngest foreign minister in Pakistan’s history @BBhuttoZardari. The task is daunting, and the previous government have hurt our international standing but I have no doubt that you will make our country, party, and familyproud.”
Explaining his decision of joining the cabinet, Bilawal recently said it was now time for all political parties to put on a united front, as “one-sided decision making” was no longer possible.
“We have to understand that this isn’t an ordinary coalition government. This unity government is a result of the parties on the opposition benches going to the treasury benches for the first time in the history of Pakistan. ” On Tuesday, the PPP chairman regretted that ousted PM Imran Khan’s “foreign conspiracy” narrative had hurt Pakistan’s image on international forums.
Among the main challenges, Bilawal needs to fix strained ties with the US whom Khan had targeted and find a way to restart the stalled peace process with neighbouring India. His first foreign mission in the role will be accompanying Shehbaz on Thursday to Saudi Arabia, a key trade partner and regular source of relief for Pakistan’s struggling economy.
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