Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Chaudhry Salik Hussain represented Pakistan at the funeral ceremony of Pope Francis at Vatican City on Saturday.

The two-hour long ceremony was attended by leaders from around the world and was witnessed in person by an estimated 250,000 people present on the premises of the Vatican.

On margins of the ceremony, Chaudhry Salik Hussain met numerous leaders including former US President Joe Biden who fondly recalled his visit to Lahore in 2008 as a Senator.

He also met President FIFA who, while appreciating the Pakistani world-class football making tradition, expressed his intention to promote football in Pakistan adding that he is looking forward to visiting Pakistan.

The Minister also held a bilateral meeting with Chief Adviser of Interim Government of Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus and exchanged views over the two nations' brotherly ties. They also discussed  cooperation over promoting peace and security as means to development in the region.

Salik Hussain also met Minister for Tolerance of UAE Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarik Al Nahyan as well as ministers representing Russia, Singapore and Malaysia at the occasion.

Following the ceremony, Chaudhry Salik Hussain visited the Embassy of Pakistan and reviewed the status of services being extended to overseas Pakistanis in Italy.

He received a briefing on different initiatives undertaken by the Mission toward improving consular services and expressed satisfaction over establishing direct and efficient linkages with the 300,000 strong diaspora in Italy.

This was the first visit of Chaudhry Salik Hussain to a Pakistani Mission following the hosting of the Overseas Convention at Islamabad.