Pakistan minister to attend funeral

In a tribute to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Pakistan is set to send Syed Ali Zafar, the law and information minister in its caretaker government, to attend Vajpayee’s funeral on Friday. According to Pakistan sources, final details were being worked out.

Vajpayee’s famous bus trip to Lahore had made him quite popular in Pakistan, to the extent that once former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif said Vajpayee could even win an election in Pakistan. Earlier in the day, Pakistan foreign ministry put out a statement expressing its condolences at Vajpayee’s demise, describing him as a “statesman who contributed to bringing change in India-Pakistan relations”