ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will undergo open heart surgery in London on Tuesday, his family and office said, in what will be his second cardiac operation in five years.
Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif said on her official Twitter account that the surgery would be for “perforation of the heart”, a complication from an earlier procedure in 2011.
“Prayers are the most effect & potent medicine. Millions will pray for him,” she tweeted late Friday night. A statement from the Sharif’s office yesterday said the prime minister was continuing to oversee state affairs in the days before his surgery.
“It is however natural and understandable that the Prime Minister will be off from any activities when is actually operated on by the doctors,” the statement said.
“God willing soon after the surgery, the Prime Minister will be supervising State’s affairs with the same spirit and energy.”
Sharif has frequently travelled abroad for medical treatment in the past year.
His last public statements were last Sunday, after the US drone strike that killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, an attack Sharif condemned as a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Sharif well yesterday.
“My best wishes to PM Nawaz Sharif Sahab for his open heart surgery on Tuesday. And for his speedy recovery & good health,” said a tweet from Modi, who made a surprise visit to Sharif in December as a gesture of conciliation between the two nuclear-armed rival states.
