ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Friday announced the appointment of Rizwan Saeed Sheikh as the new ambassador to the United States and Asim Iftikhar as Pakistan’s additional permanent representative to the United Nations in New York.

“The Government of Pakistan has decided to appoint Additional Foreign Secretary (Middle East and SIFC) Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh as Pakistan’s new ambassador to Washington DC,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at the weekly media briefing.

The replacement of the envoy in Washington DC was long overdue. The current ambassador, Masood Khan, had already received a three-month extension after his contract ended in March, which is also set to expire at the end of the month.

“These appointments were under consideration over the last several weeks. The announcement has just been made,” the spokesperson said.

Masood Khan’s extended term set to expire tomorrow

Others who were reportedly considered for Washington DC appointment included High Commissioner in Australia Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry and former envoy to US, UN and UK Dr Maleeha Lodhi.

It is unusual for Foreign Office to announce an ambassadorial appoi­ntment before the receipt of the Agrément from the host country. However, a diplomatic source separately revealed to Dawn that Islam­abad was yet to seek Washing­ton’s consent for the appointment of Mr Sheikh as the new ambassador.

However, the change was annou­nced in a rather unusual way and against the backdrop of a mini storm in ties kicked up by the US House of Representatives’ Reso­lution 901 calling for an investigation into the fairness of recently held general elections.

This led to widespread speculations about Ambassador Khan’s exit.

Some believe that Ambassador Khan’s effectiveness in Washington DC was overshadowed by the active lobbying efforts of the opposition party, PTI, in the US.

The PTI vigorously engaged with US legislators, raising concerns about the suppression of political rights in Pakistan and, more recently, allegations of electoral manipulation.

These actions caused discomfort in some circles in Islamabad, fostering the perception that Amba­ssa­dor Khan had not sufficiently countered PTI’s outreach efforts in DC.

The coinciding of the announcement with the passage of the US House Resolution 901 that was rejected by the FO as “uns­olicited interference” stre­n­gthened that perception.

Ambassador-designate Sheikh is currently serving as the additional foreign secretary for the Middle East.

He also oversees the Special Invest­ment Facilitation Council cell at the Foreign Office. This role has enabled him to work closely with the military leadership, likely earning their confidence.

Mr Sheikh has over 20 years of experience, primarily in multilateral diplomacy. He previously served at the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commi­ssion and as OIC secretary general’s spokesman.

He has taken part in negotiations at NAM, G-77 and the UN in Geneva.

At the foreign ministry headquarters he has served at the UN, the US and the South Asia divisions.

Permanent representative to UN Meanwhile, Pakistan’s envoy in France, Asim Iftikhar, will relocate to New York.

He will initially serve as the additional per­m­anent repre­­sentative to the UN before succeeding Munir Akram as the permanent envoy.

“He [Iftikhar] will take over as Permanent Repre­sentative of Pakistan in due course,” Ms Baloch said.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2024