Pak special envoy to Kabul steps down

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador Asif Ali Durrani, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan has stepped down from his post, and already joined IPRI as a Senior Research Fellow.

“This is the prerogative of the prime minister“, Durrani told The News, when asked why he had left, as he reported directly to the prime minister and not to the Foreign Office.

According to sources, Durrani had been appointed for one year and at end of May this year, Ministry of Foreign Affairs had given him a short extension.

Earlier, he had also served as deputy chief at Pakistan’s Mission in Kabul. So far, the government has not announced his successor. Sources in the Prime Minister’ Office reveal that the outgoing Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi informed Durrani about the prime minister’s decision on September 10, the day he stepped down from office as Foreign Secretary. Durrani was a career diplomat for 32 years and came in as the special representative after his predecessor Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq resigned from his post after serving for three years. Speaking at a conference earlier in Islamabad, Durrani had said, “With deft diplomacy, Pakistan can overcome its difficulties with Afghanistan, including the TTP challenge. While our eastern neighbour is likely to continue with its anti-Pakistan pursuits, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium terms.”