Khawaja Asif
Updated: Wikipedia source
Khawaja Muhammad Asif (born 9 August 1949) is a Pakistani politician who has served as the Defence Minister of Pakistan since 2022, having previously served in the post from 2013 to 2017. He has been a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from Sialkot since 1993, elected for the seventh time in 2024. He is among the senior-most members of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) from Punjab. He also has an additional portfolio of Minister of Aviation since 11 March 2024, and was the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Abbasi cabinet from August 2017 to April 2018 and simultaneously served as the Minister for Defence and Minister for Water and Power under Nawaz Sharif's third term from 2013 to 2017. Asif began his political career after getting elected to the Senate of Pakistan during the Nawaz Sharif's first term in 1991. Since 1997, he had served as a member of the federal cabinet, in various positions. From 1997 to 1999, he was as the chairman of the Privatization Commission of Pakistan during the second government of Nawaz Sharif. He briefly held the cabinet portfolios of the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources in the Gillani ministry in 2008, with an additional charge as Minister for Sports. He was awarded Nishan-e-Imtiaz for his exceptional leadership and strategic contributions during the recent India-Pakistan conflict and Operation Bunyanum Marsoos.