Pakistan new cabinet takes oath

ISLAMABAD. KAZINFORM President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to the cabinet members. Pakistan new Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was also present on the occasion, IRNA reports.

Reports say that Khawaja Muhammad Asif would serve as the country's new foreign minister whereas Ahsan Iqbal would be in charge of the key interior ministry in the government of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Former Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali khan is not part of the new cabinet.

The names of the cabinet members and their portfolios were finalized by PM Abbasi after six-hour-long consultations with his predecessor Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Murree twon.

According to the sources, Ishaq Dar would continue as finance minister whereas Pervez Malik will be the new minister for commerce in place of Khurram Dastagir Khan, who will take charge of the defense ministry.

Marriyum Aurangzeb, Zahid Hamid and Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry are expected to retain their previous portfolios. Hamid was law minister and Aurangzeb minister of state for information in the previous cabinet of the ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.