In a key development, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has been appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan, the Foreign Office announced on Sunday.

The announced was made in a post on X by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader is currently serving as the foreign minister.

He has earlier served as the finance czar in the previous governments of PML-N.

Later, the Cabinet Division also issued the notification of Dar’s appointment as the deputy prime minister.

“The Prime Minister has been pleased to designate Mr Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, as Deputy Prime Minister with immediate effect and until further orders,” the notification read.

The role of deputy PM has rarely been seen in Pakistan as the previous person to hold the post was Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, then Pakistan Muslim League-Q leader, who served the country back in 2012.

Dar’s appointment as deputy PM comes after he has traditionally served as the country’s finance minister in PML-N’s tenures at the centre.

However, an ex-banker Muhammad Aurangzeb has taken charge of fiscal affairs at a time when Pakistan is navigating several issues on the economic front, and is also hopeful of a new bailout programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) around the time of the new fiscal year.