In Pakistan, the 19-member Cabinet of newly elected Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been sworn into office and held its first meeting yesterday. President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath of office to the ministers at the presidential office in Islamabad.

Sharif appointed lawmaker Ishaq Dar as foreign minister and re-appointed Khawaja Mohammad Asif as defense minister.

Mohsin Naqvi, who served as caretaker chief minister in the eastern Punjab province, was appointed interior minister while Attaullah Tarar was named information minister.

No one from his Pakistan People’s Party has been appointed to the Cabinet. Zardari’s son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, was foreign minister during Sharif’s previous stint as premier.