ISLAMABAD: The prime minister on Wednesday departed for London to attend the coronation ceremony of Britain’s new monarch, King Charles, on Saturday, his office said.
In a brief statement, Shehbaz Sharif’s office expressed the strong bond between the two nations as “great friends” and said the prime minister would also meet other world leaders.
“[I’m] leaving for the UK today to represent Pakistan at the coronation ceremony of His Majesty King Charles III,” he tweeted.
“The UK-Pakistan relations are rooted in shared history and multifaceted bonds that have grown stronger over the decades. The British monarch and the royal family have been great friends of Pakistan,” said the prime minister.
Leaving for the UK today to represent Pakistan at the the coronation ceremony of His Majesty King Charles III. The UK-Pakistan relations are rooted in shared history & multifaceted bonds that have grown stronger over the decades. The British monarch & the royal family have been…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) May 3, 2023
Charles, 74, along with his wife Camilla, 75, will be crowned at Westminster Abbey, a royal church in the British capital, in a historic event whose origins date back some 1,000 years, and involving thousands of military personnel in a mile-long procession through central London.
The ceremony will be the most glorious display of pageantry seen in the United Kingdom for a generation and will provide an economic boost to the nation, its organiser and Buckingham Palace said.
Some 7,000 armed forces personnel will be involved in ceremonial duties, with more than 4,000, including military bands, taking part in a procession from the Abbey back to Buckingham Palace where the newly-crowned king and queen will be given a royal salute in the gardens.
Meanwhile, in London, Sharif is also expected to have a series of consultations with Nawaz Sharif, the so-called supreme leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). It is believed that the meetings will result in some important decisions being finalised, according to The News.
The brothers were unable to meet during the deposed prime minister’s recent tour to Saudi Arabia, where he spent the final days of the holy month of Ramadan, due to junior Sharif’s inability to attend.
He will travel to London via a special flight and may have a stopover in Istanbul before returning home, with a potential stop in Saudi Arabia. However, the schedule for these stopovers is yet to be confirmed, Geo News reported.
— With input from Reuters
