Pakistan’s Hina Rabbani cancels trip to Dhaka for D-8 ministerial conference

Pakistan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar has cancelled her scheduled trip to Dhaka to attend the ministerial conference of the D-8 alliance.

Confirming the development, a spokesperson from the country’s high commission in Dhaka on Tuesday said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistan's foreign minister, will instead attend the ceremony virtually.

Though the spokesperson did not elaborate on the sudden cancellation at the last minute, he said that they were confirming Pakistan’s presence virtually since the forum is taking place in a “hybrid format”.

The Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirmed the development, reports bdnews24.com.

The 20th Ministerial Conference of the D-8 alliance of eight developing countries will be inaugurated virtually by the current president of the alliance, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey are members of the D-8 alliance.