ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Tuesday issued a clarification regarding a delay in Masood Khan’s appointment as Pakistan’s envoy to the US, stating that the agrément is being processed in the US system.
Responding to the queries of media persons regarding the reports carried by Indian media on Pakistan’s decision to appoint Sardar Masood Khan as Ambassador to the US, Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar 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.
The FO spokesperson said Masood Khan is a highly accomplished diplomat with 40 years of experience in both multilateral and bilateral diplomacy.
Khan was nominated as ambassador to the US in November. He will replace Dr Asad Majeed Khan who is currently heading the country’s mission in Washington since 2019.
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 was 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.
The former AJK president 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 during the period of September 2008 and September 2012 and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York, between October 11, 2012 and February 7, 2015.