ISLAMABAD: Former Azad Jammu Kashmir President Masood Khan is likely to be appointed as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.
According to sources, the government has already started the selection process and has moved a summary. Sardar Masood Khan tops the list to replace Dr Asad Majeed Khan, who is currently heading the country’s mission in Washington since 2019 and will complete his tenure in January 2022.
Sardar Masood Khan was appointed as the 27th president of Azad Kashmir in 2016. He was replaced by Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhary following the AJK elections in August 2021.
Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden also nominated a new ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Armin Blome, an expert on Middle East affairs. He is currently the US ambassador to Tunisia.
Masood Khan is a career diplomat who has served the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in different capacities since 1980. He has twice served as Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva and New York and as ambassador to China. After retirement, he headed the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad before being elected as AJK president.
He is a strong advocate of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan, and effectively highlighted the sufferings of the oppressed Kashmiris against Indian atrocities. His appointment as Pakistan’s envoy to the United States will send a strong message that Pakistan intends to highlight the Kashmir issue.
He also served as the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from August 2003 to March 2005, before becoming Pakistan’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and International Organisations in Geneva, Switzerland, from 2005 to 2008.
He was also Pakistan’s Ambassador to China between September 2008 and September 2012 and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York, between October 11, 2012, and February 7, 2015.
