Tehmina Janjua appointed new foreign secretary

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has appointed Tehmina Janjua as the new foreign secretary of the country, replacing Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry who has completed his tenure in the office.

Aizaz Chaudhry has already been designated to become Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States where Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani has already relinquished the assignment upon completion of his contractual period.

The other four grade-22 officers of the Foreign Office in the run for the slot were Ghalib Iqbal, Pakistan’s High Commissioner in India Abdul Basit, High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Syed Ibne Abbas and country’s Ambassador in Denmark Masroor Junejo.

Well-placed sources told The News here that the prime minister had extensive consultations for picking up new foreign secretary as he personally interviewed four of the contenders namely Tehmina Janjua, Ghalib Iqbal, Ibne Abbas and Abdul Basit. The prime minister taking into the consideration experience and merits opted to pick Tehmina Janjua who was in Islamabad last week and had meeting with the prime minister.

She earlier met him in Geneva and Davos when the premier visited Switzerland for attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. The sources hinted that Abdul Basit would be Pakistan’s ambassador in Afghanistan as he is fluent in Pashto. He has completed his tenure in India. He could be replaced with Ghalib Iqbal who is waiting for posting and served as Pakistan’s ambassador in France till recently.

The sources hinted that major reshuffle would take place at important capitals after Tehmina Janjua’s taking over the charge of the Foreign Office. She is presently serving as Pakistan's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva and will assume her new post in the first week of next month. Tehmina Janjua is a seasoned diplomat with a career spanning over 32 years.

She holds Master’s degrees from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad and Columbia University, New York. She served as spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during 2011. She also served as Ambassador of Pakistan to Italy from December 2011 to October 2015. 

Interestingly, The News published the story of Tehmina Janjua’s appointment as foreign secretary on August 26, 2016. She is Pakistan’s first woman foreign secretary. Tehmina Janjua is a down to earth diplomat who has praiseworthy command over her job. Her spouse Mansur Ahmad is also a diplomat and he is currently serving with the world body in Geneva.