ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Tuesday rejected Indian media reports about a delay in the appointment of Sardar Masood Khan as envoy to the United States, saying the “agrément [of Masood] is being processed in the US system”.
The foreign office sent the nomination of Ambassador Masood Khan, who served as the Azad Kashmir president until August 2021, to Washington in November last year. His nomination was supposed to be approved up to eight-week time, but the US State Department has sought some more time for the clearance.
Meanwhile, Indian news agency ANI reported that in a letter to Joe Biden, Congressman Scott Perry urged the US president to reject Khan’s appointment as it would undermine US interests in the region.
Referring to Indian media claims, the spokesperson said, “This is a part of the wider Indian disinformation campaign to malign Pakistan and those who represent Pakistan, by using fake news to make scandalous claims and baseless allegations.”
Speaking about Masood, the FO spokesman noted that Ambassador Masood Khan “is a highly accomplished diplomat with 40 years of experience in both multilateral and bilateral diplomacy”.
After his retirement, Masood became the AJK president and has been advancing Pakistan’s case for the longstanding Kashmir dispute with India. Masood has vast experience in multilateral diplomacy and has been a frequent negotiator for Pakistan.
He has served in various diplomatic positions at the Pakistan missions in Beijing, The Hague, and Washington DC. Masood during his service served as the ambassador to China as well as a permanent representative to the United Nations. He also remained a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The development comes amid years of strained relations between Washington and Pakistan since US officials thought they were not getting requisite support from Islamabad to win the war in Afghanistan.
Although Pakistan has been seeking broad-based ties with the US covering all aspects, the US has so far given little indication if it is ready to enhance the scope of ties beyond security and Afghanistan.
