Pakistan’s Bhutto Zardari en route to the top

ISLAMABAD: The scion of Pakistan’s most influential political dynasty was appointed foreign minister yesterday, the latest step up a ladder likely to take Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to the top of the country’s leadership.

Bhutto, 33, becomes one of the world’s youngest foreign ministers but inherits a diplomatic bag of issues that started well before he was born, including relations with arch-rival India. He was sworn in two weeks after he helped lead an alliance that toppled Imran Khan and saw Shehbaz Sharif become prime minister. He will accompany Sharif today to Saudi Arabia, a key trade partner for Pakistan and its struggling economy.

Bhutto is the son of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari. His grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the founder of the

Pakistan People’s Party that Bhutto now leads. He became party leader aged just 19, following his mother’s assassination in 2007. Bhutto has spoken out on the rights of women and minorities.