ISLAMABAD: The government has appointed new envoys in 18 countries, including Russia, Germany and Iran.

According to a notification, Amb Shafqat Ali Khan will be the new ambassador in Moscow. He will replace Amb Qazi Khalilullah, who has retired. Mr Khan was currently Pakistan’s envoy to Poland.

Director General Europe at the Foreign Office (FO) Malik Mohammad Farooq has been posted to Warsaw (Poland) as the ambassador there.

Director General South Asia and Saarc Dr Mohammad Faisal, who also served as FO spokesperson, has been designated as the new ambassador to Germany in place of Amb Jauhar Saleem, who will move to Italy as Pakistan’s envoy in Rome.

Amb Rahim Hayat Qureshi, who was ambassador in Seoul (South Korea), has been appointed as the envoy in Tehran (Iran). Ms Mumtaz Zahra Baloch would replace him in South Korea.

Additional Secretary Middle East Nadeem Khan has been designated as ambassador to Greece, Mariam Madiha Aftab as ambassador to Bulgaria, Additional Secretary Africa Dr Ali Ahmed Arain as ambassador to Senegal, Syed Ali Asad Gilani as ambassador to Uzbekistan, Mr Irfan Ahmed as ambassador to Turkmenistan, Dr Khalid Ejaz as ambassador to Argentina, Dr Zafar Iqbal as ambassador to Romania, and Director General Counter-Terrorism at FO Ahmad Farooq as ambassador to Denmark.

Ambassador to Azerbaijan Dr Saeed Khan Mohmand has been given a six-month extension in service.

Retired Vice Admiral Ather Mukhtar has been posted as envoy to the Maldives and retired Maj Gen Umar Farooq Burki as ambassador to Jordan.

Mr Zahid Hussain has been appointed as consul general in Frankfurt (Germany), Ms Samina Mahtab as consul general in Chengdu (China) and Mr Tariq Wazir as consul general in Manchester (United Kingdom).

Sardar Azhar Tariq Khan has been posted as envoy to Kyrgyzstan. He is the central finance secretary of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s spokesperson Marriyum Auran­gzeb criticised the appointment of Sardar Azhar as ambassador to Kyrgyzstan.

In a tweet, she said: “Sardar Azhar Tariq Khan , Finanace secretary of PTI MADE Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan while the PTI foreign funding case is subjudice in ECP @ImranKhanPTI Is he being compensated for not revealing facts about illegal foreign accounts of PTI?”

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2019