Senior PPP leader and former defense minister, Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, passed away on Wednesday at his residence in Lahore. Mukhtar was 74-year-old.

The former minister was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and had been admitted to the Shalimar Hospital earlier this month.

Mukhtar entered politics in 1990 through the platform of PPP. The renowned industrialist served as Commerce Minister in the 1993–1996 Benazir Bhutto government, and later as defense minister in the former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani-led cabinet. He also served as the chairman of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for a short while.

Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed grief over the demise of Mukhtar. He called it a huge loss for the party saying that he will always miss him.

The PIA administration also offered their deepest condolences to his friends and family through a tweet:

"Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar - Former Defence Minister & Chairman PIA, breathed his last today. May Allah rest his soul in heaven. On behalf of CEO PIA Air Marshal Arshad Malik & the PIA Family, we express deepest condolences to his friends & kind."

Among others to offer their condolences were Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Minister of Science and Technology Chaudhary Fawad Hussain.

Fawad took to Twitter to share his sentiments:

"Extremely sorry to hear about the sad demise of Ch Ahmad Mukhtar, he was not well for quite some time. We used to have debates on coffee with late Khaled Kharral both were center-forwards of PPP and important players of Pak politics both are no more. [You] will be missed. RIP sir."