“I am very grateful for Madame Tussauds for having us here today,” he told the gathering where the Pakistani community was also in attendance. “It is indeed an honour and a privilege that we are unveiling the statue of Mohatarma Benazir Bhutto here at Madame Tussauds Dubai.”

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of the former prime minister, is on a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates where he met with his Emirati counterpart.

The foreign minister added that he had seen the statue first in Madame Tussauds in London, but he said that Dubai has a special place in the heart of his family as his mother spent 10 years in Dubai when they were in exile.

He received his primary and secondary education in Dubai.

“We have a close attachment to this city and country. We are immensely grateful that the memory of our mother, Benazir Bhutto, is being honoured here in the form of this wax statue,” said Bilawal.

Bilawal said that Benazir was a “symbol for democracy, freedom, equal rights for women across the world, and peaceful and prosperous progress of Pakistan”.

Benazir, who served as Pakistan’s prime minister twice, was the first woman elected to head a democratic government in a Muslim-majority country.

She was assassinated during an election campaign on December 27, 2007, in Rawalpindi at the age of 54.

“I am sure that this statute will serve to inspire generations to come and remind us of the enduring resonance of the values #SMBB lived and fought for – democracy, justice, human rights, rule of law, compassion, and freedom,” Bilawal tweeted.

“My family and I, and indeed, all Pakistanis are profoundly grateful to Madame Tussauds Dubai for honouring Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s memory and legacy.”