Sharif retains Pak’s foreign affairs portfolio

June 08, 2013 04:59 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 08:45 pm IST - Islamabad

Newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif, left, arrives at the Prime Minister''s house to review guards of honor in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, June 5, 2013. Sharif took office Wednesday vowing to fix the country's ailing economy and end electricity blackouts while also calling for an end to American drone strikes in the tribal areas. (AP Photo/B.K. Banagsh)

Newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif, left, arrives at the Prime Minister''s house to review guards of honor in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, June 5, 2013. Sharif took office Wednesday vowing to fix the country's ailing economy and end electricity blackouts while also calling for an end to American drone strikes in the tribal areas. (AP Photo/B.K. Banagsh)

With Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif deciding to retain Pakistan’s foreign affairs portfolio, former minister Sartaj Aziz will play a crucial role as his advisor in charting a way forward on issues like relations with India and the U.S.

The Cabinet Division has notified the appointment of the 84-year-old Aziz as Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs.

Mr Aziz served as both finance and foreign minister in Mr Sharif’s last term as premier in the late 1990s.

Over the past few weeks, Mr Aziz has been advising Mr Sharif on foreign policy issues and participating in meetings with foreign envoys and visiting leaders.

Sources in the PML-N said Mr Aziz will play a major role in shaping the new government’s policy for relations with India and the U.S. and for the endgame in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan will be the new government’s point man for dealing with law and order problems and a Taliban insurgency, while Power Minister Khwaja Asif has been entrusted the tasking of addressing a crippling energy crisis.

Mr Khan, a hawk considered close to the military and a political heavyweight from the Rawalpindi region, was allocated the Interior Ministry hours after 25 members of Sharif’s council of ministers were sworn in on Friday.

Mr Asif, a former banker, has been allocated the crucial water and power portfolio at a time when cities and towns across Pakistan are coping with power cuts of up to 20 hours a day.

Porfolios : Zahid Hamid - Law and Justice; Shahid Khaqan Abbasi - Petroleum and Natural Resources; Abdul Qadir Baloch - States and Frontier Regions; Ishaq Dar - Finance and Revenue; Khwaja Saad Rafiq – Railways; Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi - Industries and Production; Birjees Tahir - Kashmir and Gilgit Affairs; Pervez Rashid - Information and Broadcasting; Kamran Michael - Ports and Shipping and Sadaruddin Rashidi - Overseas Pakistanis Affairs.

Ministers of State

Mian Baleegh-ur-Rehman – Education; Khurram Dastagir Khan - Science and Technology; Usman Ibraheem - Housing and Works; Sheikh Aftab Ahmed - Parliamentary Affairs; Jam Kamal Khan - Petroleum and Natural Resources; Abdul Hakeem - Baloch Railways; Anusha Rehman Khan - Information Technology and Telecom; Saira Afzal Tarar - Health Sciences Regulation and Coordination and Pir Muhammad Amin-ul-Hasnat - Religious Affairs.

Capt (retired) Shujaat Azeem has been named Advisor to the Prime Minister on Aviation.

PML-N leader Sanaullah Zehri and former envoy Tariq Fatemi have been appointed Special Assistants to the Prime Minister.

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