ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Wednesday he would travel to the United Kingdom later in the day to attend the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla on May 6 and participate in a summit of Commonwealth leaders.
The ceremony will be held at Westminster Abbey and where leaders of a number of countries across the world are expected to make an appearance.
The new king acceded to the throne last September after his mother and the longest serving British monarch Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at the age of 96.
“Leaving for the UK today to represent Pakistan at the coronation ceremony of His Majesty King Charles III,” the prime minister said in a Twitter post. “The UK-Pakistan relations are rooted in shared history & multifaceted bonds that have grown stronger over the decades.”
He added the British royal family had always been “great friends of Pakistan.”
“I will also use the opportunity to attend the Commonwealth leaders’ summit as well as engage with other world leaders bilaterally,” he continued.
The prime minister’s visit will be closely monitored in Pakistan amid growing political instability since he may hold political consultations with his elder brother and the founding leader of the ruling PML-N party Nawaz Sharif who has been living in exile in London after being found guilty in a corruption reference by an accountability court.
While his party says the case against him was politically motivated, he began his 10-year prison term in 2018 before securing his release on temporary bail on medical grounds.
He left Pakistan in November 2019 to seek medical treatment in London, but he did not return home since then.
