Rizwan Saeed to replace Masood Khan as Pakistan's envoy to US

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on Friday said the government has decided to appoint Rizwan Saeed, serving as additional foreign secretary for Middle East, as its ambassador to the United States.

Saeed will replace Masood Khan as Pakistan's ambassador in Washington. Khan is serving as the ambassador since February 2022. Former prime minister Imran Khan had nominated him for the office in November 2021.

In another major development, Baloch said Pakistan has decided to appoint Asim Iftikhar, who’s serving as Pakistan’s ambassador in France, as its additional permanent representative to the United Nations.

She said Iftikhar will, at a suitable time, assume the office of the permanent representative, which is currently held by Munir Akram. Akram assumed this position on November 1, 2019.

The spokesperson said the appointments were under consideration for several weeks and the announcement regarding the appointments was a normal procedure.

Baloch, while commenting on the US House of Representative’s resolution, regretted the development, saying Pakistan had resolved to relations based on mutual respect and non-interference with the US.

The US Congress should work for strengthening Pakistan-US relationships, she said adding that Pakistan had apprised America about its serious reservations over the resolution.

“The resolution by the US House of Representatives is an unwarranted interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs,” she said.