Bilawal to attend unveiling ceremony of wax figure of Benazir Bhutto in Dubai

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is set to attend the unveiling ceremony of the wax figure of his late mother and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto at Madame Tussauds in Dubai. 

Bilawal will embark on an official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on July 30 (tomorrow) where he will attend the ceremony and also hold a meeting with his counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Foreign Office said in a statement on Sunday. 

During the meeting, the two sides will discuss the entire spectrum of bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries, the statement added.

“In Dubai, the Foreign Minister will participate in the unveiling ceremony of a wax figure of the first Pakistani personality, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, at Madame Tussauds,” read the communique.

Benazir was the first woman to be elected as the prime minister of Pakistan twice. She was assassinated in a gun and bomb attack on December 27, 2007, after leaving her party's last rally in Rawalpindi‚ two weeks before the scheduled general election of 2008 in which she was a leading opposition candidate.

Bilawal will also offer condolences to the UAE leadership on the sad demise of Sheikh Saeed bin Zayed, brother of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, president of the UAE.

The foreign minister’s upcoming visit reflects Pakistan’s robust engagement with the UAE and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two brotherly countries, the FO said.

"Both countries are committed to steadily strengthening fraternal ties and deepening mutually rewarding economic partnerships," it added.

A day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered his condolences to the UAE president over his brother's demise on a day-long visit to the country.

He was accompanied by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and special assistant Tariq Fatemi to UAE.