Nawaz travels with small delegation

LONDON: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has set a new precedent by paying for his own expenses and travelling with the minimum possible delegation during his official visit to the United Kingdom.
Prime Minister Sharif arrived in Britain on Tuesday afternoon for his first official visit since winning elections and forming government in May. He addressed the World Islamic Economic Forum on Tuesday and held talks with British ministers on Wednesday and Thursday at the Churchill Hotel - the hotel reserved for Pakistani official delegations. The same hotel has made headlines in the past, when almost entire floors of the five star hotel and the presidential suites were booked for the visiting Pakistani leaders, notably President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
But for the first official visit of PM Nawaz Sharif, rooms were booked only for the essential delegation members and staff. Ministers, Ishaq Dar, Sartaj Aziz, Jalil Abbas Jilani, Sadiq Khan and other staff stayed at the hotel.
Since becoming the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif has used his private car, owned by his son, Hasan Nawaz Sharif, who lives permanently in London. The PM lives at his son’s apartment near Park Lane, Marble Arch setting a good example to follow. Previously, all visiting prime ministers and presidents have availed the facility of luxury hotels where a night of stay for the Pakistani PM could cost several thousand Pounds in the super luxurious sections of the central London five star hotels. For his meeting on two days with the British leadership, the PM walked from his apartment to the hotel casually, without any security or protocol.
The prime minister, this time, travelled with a delegation of only 10 people which is again unprecedented because in the past, plane loads of staff and ministerial entourage often accompanied the prime minister including journalists who were paid for by the state.
This was the first time that the PM is not being accompanied by security staff of at least a dozen members. Military secretary, the chief of protocol and the chief security officer also did not accompany the prime minister.
The media team was also three in number from the state television, assisted by a senior bureaucrat.