Dr Asad Majeed appointed foreign secretary

The government has appointed Dr Asad Majeed as the new foreign secretary, the Foreign Office (FO) confirmed Friday.

The Establishment Division has issued a notification of the appointment, making Dr Majeed the 31st foreign secretary.

He is currently posted as Pakistan’s ambassador to Belgium, the European Union and Luxembourg.

Dr Majeed is a grade-22 officer of the Foreign Services of Pakistan.

Jauhar Saleem had been serving as the acting foreign secretary as the FO could not finalise and agree on a name for a permanent foreign secretary.

During his diplomatic career spanning over 34 years, Dr Majeed held several key diplomatic assignments. He served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Pakistan’s ambassador to Japan; additional foreign secretary (Americas), director-general (Americas); director-general (West Asia), Pakistan’s charge d’ affaires ad interim to the US, deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Pakistan, Washington DC and additional secretary of Foreign Affairs at the President’s Secretariat.

He holds a doctorate in International Economic and Business Law (LLD) from Kyushu University, Japan and has been a resource person at a number of academic institutions. He is married and has two children.

Confusion over naming foreign secretary

Confusion and indecision at the FO over naming a new foreign secretary started after the audio leaks in which former prime minister Imran Khan allegedly talked about a diplomatic cypher sent by Dr Majeed when he was ambassador in the United States, The News had reported.

“Yes this was one reason. There was apprehensions at the Foreign Office if the government orders an inquiry into the cypher incident, Ambassador Asad Majeed would not be able to give full attention to his duties but rather would spend time attending meetings of the inquiry,“ an official source had told The News.