ISLAMABAD: Putting aside all speculations about potential foreign guests in prime minister’s oath ceremony, the government has confirmed that no foreign dignitary will be a part of the PM’s swearing-in ceremony.
In a statement, the Foreign Office clarified that the ceremony will completely be a simple affair. The FO spokesperson also termed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s telephone to Imran Khan a good gesture.
Meanwhile, Central Secretary Information PTI and MNA-elect Fawad Chaudhry said the PTI had also decided to avoid inviting foreign dignitaries in the oath taking ceremony of Prime Minister in-waiting Imran Khan.
Talking to media, he said PTI chief Imran Khan has directed to keep the oath taking ceremony as extremely simple.
“ We will not invite any foreign dignitaries as it will be purely a national ceremony,” he said adding however that only a few foreign national personal friends of Imran Khan have been invited to attend the oath taking ceremony scheduled to be held in Presidency.
It was earlier reported that Khan has invited former Indian cricket greats Navjot Sidhu
, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev for his swearing-in ceremony.
In a press conference earlier on Thursday, Sidhu heaped praise on cricketer-turned-politician, displayed how ecstatic he was at being invited to Khan’s swearing in ceremony and said Khan could finally be the key to better India-Pakistan ties.
“He (Khan) has always exhibited great character during times of crisis and man with character can be trusted…he built a world class hospital in a place where there was hardly any proper healthcare…look at his journey in politics, he’s rise from scratch, fought the system and he’s now empowered to change things,” said Sidhu.
PTI has emerged as the single largest party in the July 25 general elections. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, the PTI has bagged 116 seats in the National Assembly, while, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) is trailing far behind with 64 seats, followed by 43 seats of PPP.
Leave a Comment