PM House rejects change in FM Hina Rabbani Khar's portfolio

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister House has rejected reports doing rounds in the media regarding Hina Rabbani Khar’s probable removal as foreign minister, Geo News reported.

In statement issued here, PM House termed the speculations as baseless in all respects.

Earlier Hina Rabbani Khar’s absence from President Asif Ali Zardari's entourage in India raised many eyebrows forcing analysts to surmise that something was not right and may be she was on her way out.

On Tuesday, media was rife with reports that Khar maybe given a new portfolio in an upcoming cabinet reshuffle and a new foreign minister would lead talks with New Delhi were.

Khar, who was just 34 when she was sworn in as the foreign minister last year, was missing when Zardari and his delegation spent a day in India Sunday.

In July last year, Khar had visited India and held talks with her Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna.

The foreign ministry was caught completely unawares when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said in Lahore Sunday that "a fresh team" would carry forward bilateral talks to resolve outstanding issues, the paper reported.

Though the prime minister did not elaborate on what exactly he meant by "fresh team", the News International said the statement had raised the question of whether Khar's portfolio may be changed.

Khar had succeeded Shah Mehmood Qureshi as the foreign minister. She hails from Punjab's Muzaffargarh district. Sources close to her say there was no truth to rumours about a change in her portfolio. The sources as well as the Foreign Office failed to explain why Gilani used the term "new team" and why Khar was not included in Zardari's entourage.

It has also been speculated that Zardari considers Khar a lightweight politician.

Rehman Malik had accompanied Zardari to India, where the president met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and paid obeisance at the shrine of a Sufi saint.