Ishaq Dar appointed as Pakistan's new Foreign Minister
The Hindu
Ishaq Dar appointed as Pakistan's Foreign Minister, as new government tackles domestic and external issues, including relations with India.
Ishaq Dar, a four-time former finance minister, has been appointed as Pakistan's Foreign Minister, as the new government settled in to tackle myriad problems at the domestic and external fronts, including its relations with India and other neighbours.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday, March 11, 2024, inducted 19 members into his Cabinet, ending the tenuous wait for the completion of government formation in the cash-strapped country.
Mr. Dar, an ethnic Kashmiri and chartered accountant by training, is a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). He is also a confidant of the party head and former three-time premier Nawaz Sharif.
With little experience in managing foreign affairs, he has been given the important portfolio when Pakistan’s ties with its neighbour India as well as Afghanistan are at their lowest ebb.
The two sides broke off trade ties and lowered diplomatic presence in each other's capital in August 2019 after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories.
Pakistan has suffered due to a hiatus in trade as it used to import several items and raw materials at cheaper rates from India.
Mr. Dar, as an economic guru, favoured economic relations with the arch rival but it was not possible due to the Kashmir issue.
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