Bilawal, Zardari meet Shehbaz: Country’s progress lies in supremacy of Constitution, says PM

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Wednesday took oath as foreign minister in the cabinet of the coalition government and held a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, along with his father and former president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari at the Prime Minister’s House.

Federal ministers Khwaja Muhammad Asif and Khwaja Saad Rafique were also present. They exchanged views on the political situation in the country. Speaking on the occasion, PM Shehbaz emphasised that Pakistan's progress lies in the supremacy of the Constitution and continuity of the democratic process. It was agreed between the two sides that all political parties would be taken along for strengthening democracy and ensuring public welfare in the country. Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on taking oath as the foreign minister and expressed his resolve to overcome the challenges confronting the country with mutual cooperation.

Earlier, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took oath as the 37th foreign minister of the country and the youngest one in the history of Pakistan. President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at the Aiwan-e-Sadr and the ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, along with federal ministers. Former president Asif Ali Zardari, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, Sanam Bhutto, sister of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, and Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ahsraf, former prime minister Senator Yusuf Raza Gilani, PPP federal ministers Khursheed Shah, Senator Sherry Rehman, Shazia Atta Marri and other PPP leaders also attended it.

Aseefa, the younger sister of Bilawal, congratulated her brother through her twitter account: “Congratulations to the youngest foreign minister in Pakistan’s history.” PPP Parliamentarians Vice President and Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman, while sharing the picture of Bilawal as federal minister, tweeted, “A moment in history as Bilawal Bhutto Zardari takes oath as Pakistan’s youngest foreign minister.”

After taking the oath, Bilawal held a meeting with President Dr Arif Alvi at the Presidency for about 25 minutes and left the venue. When journalists asked President Alvi about the meeting, he did not reply and walked away smiling.

Later, newly-appointed Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took charge of the foreign ministry and got a briefing from the Foreign Office officials on Pakistan's relations with the outside world. Accompanied by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, he also visited the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad. He expressed sorrow over the loss of lives in a terrorist attack on Chinese teachers in Karachi.

The relationship between Pakistan and China is a series of loyalty across generations, FM Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said. He said terrorists made a failed attempt to strike on the basis of Pak-China friendship. “The malicious intentions of terrorists could not sabotage the Pak-China friendship,” he added. He also recorded his impressions in a guest book at the Chinese Embassy.

Meanwhile, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon greeted all activists of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on the inclusion of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in the federal cabinet. A statement issued on Wednesday quoted him as saying that the PPP chairman had emerged as the last hope for the fellow citizens. Memon said Pakistan’s future was bright in the form of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

He said the PPP chairman as the new foreign minister would carry forward the mission of the founder of the Peoples Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He said that history was repeating itself as Bilawal was launching his career in governance while following in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who had also served as Pakistan’s foreign minister. He said only Bilawal had the ability to rectify the failed foreign policy of the previous “selected” regime in the country. He predicted that Bilawal would again emerge victorious in the upcoming general elections in the country in 2023 and would become the next PM of Pakistan.