Andrabi to be new FO spokesperson

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva and senior diplomat Tahir Hussain Andrabi is set to be appointed as the new spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, replacing Ambassador Shafqat Ali Khan, who has been designated as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Highly placed sources told The News/Jang on Friday that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar has approved the appointment, with a formal notification expected next week.

Ambassador Andrabi, who hails from a distinguished Kashmiri family, currently serves as Additional Foreign Secretary (Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security - ACDIS) at the Foreign Office. Known as an articulate diplomat, he has held several key assignments both in Pakistan and abroad, including serving as Pakistan’s ambassador to Tunisia.

According to sources, Pakistan’s outgoing ambassador to the UAE, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, will return to Islamabad next week before proceeding to Moscow, where he has been appointed as ambassador to Russia.

Meanwhile, Special Secretary and current spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan will depart for Abu Dhabi to take up his new ambassadorial post following Tirmizi’s return. Pakistan’s former ambassador to Russia, Muhammad Khalid Jamali, who returned from Moscow last month, has been appointed Additional Foreign Secretary (Europe) at the Foreign Office.