KATHMANDU: Amjad Hussain B. Sial, a senior Pakistani diplomat, assumed the office of secretary general of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) here on Wednesday.
He has replaced Nepal’s Arjun Bahadur Thapa whose three-year term as Saarc secretary general expired on Tuesday.
Mr Sial is 13th secretary general of the regional bloc which was established in 1985.
This is the second time that a Pakistani diplomat has been appointed to the post.
Earlier in the mid-90s Naeem U. Hasan from Pakistan served as the sixth secretary general of Saarc.
Mr Sial is a seasoned diplomat with a career spanning over 33 years. He has worked as ambassador to Tajikistan and Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations.
Saarc comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2017
