In May 2014, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gave him the status of a federal minister for being the chairman of special committee of the National Assembly on Kashmir.[15] In August 2017, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi gave him the same status again.[15] Upon the dissolution of the National Assembly on the expiration of its term on 31 May 2018, he ceased to hold the status of a federal minister.[16]