Arif Alvi sworn in as new Pak president

Senior leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Arif Alvi, took oath as the 13th president of Pakistan here on Sunday.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Saqib Nisar, administered the oath to the 69-year-old former dentist at the President House. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by his predecessor Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa among others, Geo News reported.

Alvi had resigned from his Karachi NA-247 constituency earlier this week, after being elected as the President on September 4.

Considered to be Khan's close aide, Alvi surpassed Pakistan People's Party (PPP) candidate Aitzaz Ahsan and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominee Maulana Fazlur Rehman in a triangular contest to become the new president of the country.

According to his biography published on the PTI's website, Alvi's father Dr Habib ur Rehman Elahi Alvi was a dentist to India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Alvi's family has claimed that they have letters from Nehru to Dr Alvi.

Alvi acquired BDS (Dentistry) from de Montmorency College of Dentistry, an affiliate of the University of Punjab. He also obtained a Master of Science degree in Prosthodontics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1975, the website further said.

He later completed his Master of Science in Orthodontics at the University of the Pacific, San Francisco, in 1984. He is one of the founder members of the PTI and served as the secretary-general of the party from 2006 till 2013.