Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi administered oath to PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday who would be joining Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet as a federal minister.
The oath-taking ceremony was held at Aiwan-i-Sadr, where PM Shehbaz was also present.
Thirty-three-year-old Bilawal was first elected to the National Assembly in 2018. This is the first time he will be serving as a member of the federal cabinet. The Cabinet Division later issued a notification appointing him 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.
FM 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. His sister Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari had congratulated him earlier in the day for taking oath as the country’s foreign minister.
“Today, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will take oath as Pakistan’s foreign minister in this unity government — decided by [the] PPP CEC (central executive committee) and we couldn’t be more proud of him! Already outshone in parliament and always stuck to his democratic values — excited to witness this path if God wills,” she had tweeted.
