Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan was given the additional charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, Radio Pakistan reported, days after former foreign minister Khawaja Asif was disqualified by the Islamabad High Court for concealing assets in his nomination papers.

Khan, a PML-N federal lawmaker from Gujranwala, has served in several ministries during the incumbent government's tenure. He started off as the state minister for privatisation in 2013, but later the same year was moved to the commerce ministry.

He soon took charge as the federal minister for commerce and continued to serve there until Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court in July 2017.

Khan, the son of veteran politician Ghulam Dastgir Khan, then took charge of the defence ministry under Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as Asif was given the foreign affairs portfolio.

He will serve the ministries until the end of the government's tenure later this month.

He takes charge amid deteriorating relations between the United States and Pakistan.

Opinion

Editorial

Punishing evaders
02 May, 2024

Punishing evaders

THE FBR’s decision to block mobile phone connections of more than half a million individuals who did not file...
Engaging Riyadh
Updated 02 May, 2024

Engaging Riyadh

It must be stressed that to pull in maximum foreign investment, a climate of domestic political stability is crucial.
Freedom to question
02 May, 2024

Freedom to question

WITH frequently suspended freedoms, increasing violence and few to speak out for the oppressed, it is unlikely that...
Wheat protests
Updated 01 May, 2024

Wheat protests

The government should withdraw from the wheat trade gradually, replacing the existing market support mechanism with an effective new one over the next several years.
Polio drive
01 May, 2024

Polio drive

THE year’s fourth polio drive has kicked off across Pakistan, with the aim to immunise more than 24m children ...
Workers’ struggle
Updated 01 May, 2024

Workers’ struggle

Yet the struggle to secure a living wage — and decent working conditions — for the toiling masses must continue.