Imran Khan takes oath as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan was sworn-in as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan at 10:10 am on Saturday. He took oath in the presence of country's President Mamnoon Hussain at Islamabad. Imran had received 176 votes in his favor, as compared to 96 by his nearest rival, Shehbaz Sharif, President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Friday in the National Assembly.

Imran's wife Bushra Bibi, Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Wasim Akram, actor Javed Sheikh, Ramiz Raja were amongst the prominent personalities present when he took oath. Also, former Indian cricketer and present Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu was in attendance. He was seen seated next to Masood Khan, President of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir(PoK), and just before the ceremony, spent few moments with the country's Army chief.
 

PTI had announced Imran as their PM candidate on August 6, weeks after emerging as the single largest party in the Pakistan elections 2018. They had won 116 seats, but fell short of the half-way mark. Though, later their seat count increased to 158. Though, on Friday, the party received majority at the National Assembly and paved way for Imran to become the next PM of his country.

Much of the talk prior to Imran becoming the PM was about the visit of Sidhu. The Congress leader was one of the many prominent Indians invited by Imran and his party for the oath-taking ceremony.

Sidhu had stated earlier this month that he had accepted the invitation sent to him by Imran Khan for his oath taking ceremony as the Pakistan's Prime Minister, following his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)'s majority in the recently concluded elections in the country.

Of all the invited individuals, Sidhu was the first to respond. The former Indian cricketer decided to attend the oath taking ceremony. He said, "I thank Mr. Khan (Imran). I have a very personal relationship with him. There has been a relationship since 1983, when I first met him in Faridabad." 

He further said that while he respects the foreign policy and relations between the two country, he would like to attend the event, given it was a personal invitation and not a political one. Sidhu also praised Imran as a 'great character', claiming sports and artists have the ability to break the barriers between the two country.