Ishaq Dar appointed Pakistan's Deputy PM

Islamabad, April 28

In a surprise move, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar was on Sunday appointed the country’s Deputy Prime Minister.

Dar, 73, a chartered accountant and a veteran politician, belongs to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

According to a notification issued by the Cabinet Division, the appointment was made by PM Sharif “with immediate effect and until further orders”.

The announcement was made when both PM Sharif and Foreign Minister Dar were away in Saudi Arabia to attend a World Economic Forum’s moot. Dar is considered close to former premier Nawaz Sharif due to matrimonial links between the two families, as his son is the son-in-law of the elder Sharif.