WASHINGTON: Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar on Saturday announced that the US government had conveyed its agrément to the appointment of Sardar Masood Khan as the new ambassador of Pakistan to Washington.
The agrément, in diplomatic parlance, is an agreement between two states to receive and facilitate members of a diplomatic mission. The agrément, which was issued by the State Department, will now allow Masood to replace incumbent Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan.
“Masood Khan would assume his responsibilities in Washington, DC in due course of time,” the spokesperson said in a statement, adding that Khan was a seasoned diplomat who had served Pakistan with distinction and honour.
The Pakistan embassy in Washington submitted Masood Khan’s name to the State Department in November and the host government usually takes two to three months to approve the papers.
However, the delay in the approval stirred speculations that the US had reservations over his credentials. What added to the rumours was a letter written by a US Congressman that surfaced earlier this week suggesting that the Biden administration had placed a “pause” on approving Masood as the new ambassador.
Republican lawmaker, Congressman Scott Perry urged President Joe Biden to reject the nomination of the new Pakistani envoy. “While I am encouraged that the State Department has reportedly placed a pause on approving Masood Khan as the new Ambassador from Pakistan, a pause is not enough,” he added.
“I urge you to reject any diplomatic credentials presented to you by Masood Khan and reject any effort by the government of Pakistan to install this ‘jihadist’ as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States,” Perry wrote. The State Department, however, refused to get involved in the controversy.
“As a matter of standard diplomatic practice, we do not comment on the status of agrément requests from foreign governments,” a State Department spokesperson said when asked to confirm or deny Perry’s claim.
On Saturday, the foreign office confirmed that the US government had conveyed its agrément to the appointment of Sardar Masood Khan as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States.
Speaking about Masood, Asim Iftikhar noted that he former AJK president “is a highly accomplished diplomat with 40 years of experience in both multilateral and bilateral diplomacy”.
Masood Khan’s profile
Masood Khan was appointed as the 27th president of Azad Kashmir by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 2016. He was replaced by PTI’s Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhary following the AJK elections in August 2021.
He is a career diplomat who has served the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in different capacities since 1980, before elevation as the AJK president.
A vocal and strong advocate of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan, Masood effectively highlighted the sufferings of the oppressed Kashmiris that warrant an effective strategy to end the never-ending holocaust.
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.
