Islamabad, Sep 7 (PTI) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has deposited all the gifts, including two watches laced with diamonds, he received from foreign leaders into the Toshakhana or the state depository, a media report said on Wednesday, amidst the controversy surrounding the alleged actions of his predecessor, Imran Khan.

The gifts worth Rs 270 million, received from foreign dignitaries, will also be displayed to the general public as the move will make people of the country aware of friendly countries' relations with Pakistan, an official statement quoted Sharif as saying.

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People will be able to view these gifts at the Prime Minister's Office, where a specific area has been designated for the display, Geo News cited the statement as saying.

According to the statement, the prime minister received the gifts, including two watches laced with diamonds -- one costing Rs 100 million and the other Rs 170 million, from the Gulf nations.

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Apart from these, the prime minister also deposited cufflinks, rings, and pens into the Toshakhana.

According to the statement, the prime minister received more expensive gifts than his predecessor and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Khan, who has been embroiled in a controversy surrounding the Toshakhana gifts after the premier accused the ousted prime minister of selling the presents, including diamond jewellery, worth Rs 140 million in Dubai, inflicting a loss to the national exchequer.

As per the country's law, any gift from a foreign state's dignitaries must be submitted to the state depository.

The PTI government led by Khan had been reluctant to share details about gifts retained from the Toshakhana.

According to Pakistani media reports, Khan had earned Rs 36 million from selling three expensive watches gifted by visiting dignitaries from friendly Gulf countries.

While responding to the Toshakana controversy earlier in April, Khan had said that those were his gifts, so it was his choice whether or not to keep them. "Mera Tohfa, Meri Marzi [my gift, my choice]," he had said.

The Election Commission, issuing a notice to Khan in connection with the case, had summoned the cricketer-turned-politician for a hearing after the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance filed a disqualification petition against the ousted premier, who allegedly paid for only some of the items that he took home.

An inquiry has also been initiated against 69-year-old Khan by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for selling a precious necklace from Toshakhana, inflicting a loss to the national exchequer.

The necklace was sold to a jeweller in Lahore through Zulfi Bukhari, former Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, for Rs 180 million. At the same time, only a fraction of that amount was paid to Toshakhana, the report said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)