ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday became the youngest foreign minister of Pakistan.
President Arif Alvi administered the oath to Bilawal, who is 33 years, seven months, and six days of age, as federal minister.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif witnessed the ceremony here at Aiwan-i-Sadr, which was attended by former president Asif Ali Zardari, former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gillani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, and a number of MPs, party workers, and government officials.
The family of Bilawal – including sister Aseefa Bhutto and maternal aunt Sanam Bhutto, the sister of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto – also attended the ceremony.
The Cabinet Division later issued a notification appointing Bilawal as the foreign minister.
Assuming charge as the foreign minister, Bilawal was welcomed at the Foreign Office by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood. During his visit, Bilawal interacted with senior ministry officials.
Bilawal also paid a visit to the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad. He regretted the lives lost in Tuesday’s suicide attack outside the University of Karachi’s (KU) Confucius Institute.
“The relationship between Pakistan and China is a series of loyalties from generation to generation.
“Terrorists made a failed attempt to strike the foundation of the Pak-China friendship,” he said.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Bilawal had explained his decision of joining PM Shehbaz’s cabinet and said “one-sided decision making” is not possible and it is up to all the political parties to find solutions to the problems collectively.
“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.
“This is a very big challenge [and] everyone must play their role and share their burdens,” the PPP chairman had added.
He had expressed the hope that as part of the team, at times the PPP’s priorities would be given weight and sometimes those of other political parties would take the forefront so solutions could be found together.
The new cabinet reflects the political mix of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), PPP, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).
