 On 4 September 2004, he was inducted into the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and was appointed as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.He continued to serve as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs until 15 November 2007.He ran for the seat of the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-Q from Constituency NA-194 (Rahim Yar Khan-III) in 2008 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful.