People who value peace in Pakistan admire Vajpayee: Pakistan acting Law Minister

Pakistan’s acting Minister of Law and Justice Syed Ali Zafar with External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. (Source: MEA Twitter)

Pakistan’s acting Minister of Law and Justice Syed Ali Zafar, who is in India to attend the last rites of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, hailed him as a man of peace and a called him a visionary leader. Zafar said he came to India to share the grief with the people of India. “I have come here as a representative of people of Pakistan to share your grief. Vajpayee Sahab was a man of peace and gave visionary leadership to India,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.

He further added, “People who value peace in Pakistan admire him. We hope that as in grief we will share your happy moments too in the future. The issues which we have between our countries which includes the issue of Jammu and Kashmir will be resolved through dialogue and peacefully.”

Read | Atal Bihari Vajpayee, poet-politician, laid to rest as nation pays teary-eyed tribute

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The Pakistan lawmaker had a meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj which was also attended by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale. The details of the meeting are not available. The meeting comes on the day when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former cricketer Imran Khan has been voted as Pakistan’s Prime Minister by the National Assembly.

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Apart from Pakistan, dignitaries from other neighbouring countries too came to pay their tributes to Vajpayee. The King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, Bangladesh’s foreign minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Sri Lanka’s acting foreign minister Lakshman Kiriella, Nepal’s foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali, former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai were also in attendance.