ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif conveyed best wishes from the people of Pakistan to King Charles III on his coronation ceremony of the new British monarch, said an official statement released in Islamabad on Saturday.
Sharif went to the United Kingdom on Wednesday to attend the star-studded gathering in London where he also participated in a conference of top Commonwealth leaders.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif represented Pakistan at the Coronation Ceremony of His Majesty King Charles III in London on 6 May 2023,” said the statement. “The Coronation is the first occasion in 70 years that a British monarch has been anointed.”
The king’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away last year in September had ascended to the throne in 1953.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif representing Pakistan on the occasion, conveyed best wishes on behalf of the Government and the people of Pakistan to the King,” the statement added.
The Pakistani PM attended the Commonwealth gathering on Friday, asking its participants to mark the coronation of the king as a moment “to reimagine and reinvigorate the Commonwealth and infuse it with ever greater synergy and even stronger sense of purpose.”
He also highlighted the significance of his country’s partnership with the voluntary association of 56 independent states while highlighting its role in empowering youth around the world.
The prime minister is also expected to meet First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf on Sunday.
Yousaf, whose family has Pakistani origin, was recently elected by Scottish parliament to head the devolved government of the territory. He is the first Muslim and British-Pakistani who has been entrusted with the responsibility.
The prime minister’s visit is being closely monitored in Pakistan amid growing political instability, as he is expected to hold political consultations with his elder brother and the founding leader of the ruling PML-N party, Nawaz Sharif, who lives in exile in London.
Sharif, a three-time PM, was found guilty in a corruption reference by an accountability court in Pakistan and sent to prison for 10 years in 2018. He began his prison term but was later released on temporary bail on medical grounds.
Sharif left Pakistan in November 2019 to seek medical treatment in London. He has not returned home since.
