Imran Khan wants simple swearing-in, no foreign leaders to attend

Islamabad: Imran Khan has decided against inviting foreign leaders and celebrities to his oath-taking ceremony as Pakistan's new prime minister as he wants to keep the event very simple, according to a media report.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) emerged as the single largest party in the elections held on July 25. The 65-year-old leader is expected to take oath on August 11.

His party had initially planned to invite several foreign leaders and personalities, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bollywood superstar Amir Khan and Indian cricketers like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Navjot Singh Sidhu to the event. However, in an apparent change of heart on Thursday, Khan has opted against a fancy ceremony, Dawn newspaper reported.

"The PTI chairman has directed to stage the oath-taking event with austerity," Dawn newspaper quoted PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry as saying.

"He will take his oath in a simple ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr (President House)," the spokesperson said.

"It has been decided that no foreign personalities will be invited to the ceremony — it will be a completely national event. Only a few close friends of Imran Khan will be invited."

"There will be no show of extravagance at the event," Chaudhry said.

However, he added that some foreign friends of Imran will be invited to the event.

"A few of Imran's friends are the only foreign nationals being invited to the event," he said.

President Mamnoon Hussain will administer him the oath of the office.

After his party's victory in the elections, Khan has pledged to take austerity measures to save taxpayers money. He had announced that he would not move into the Prime Minister's House and a final decision on the fate of the building would be decided by the party.