FO spokesman likely to become envoy to Germany

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to appoint spokesman of the Foreign Office and Director General for South Asian affairs Dr Faisal Chaudhry as country’s ambassador to an important European capital, and, in all probabilities, he would be assigned ambassador to Germany.

Dr Chaudhry is being also considered for ambassador to Paris or Rome. The decision will be taken by next week. Pakistan’s incumbent ambassador to Germany Jauhar Saleem has been transferred back to the headquarters, and he will be given important responsibility with the Foreign Affairs.

Ms Ayesha Farooqi, who is in the United States, and earlier tipped for ambassador to France, but she is returning Pakistan, and she will become spokesperson of the Foreign Office. Dr Faisal Chaudhry, who spearheaded the spokesman office since last year in a critical period is in an acclaimed diplomat who performed in excellent manner.

Pakistan’s ambassador to France Moinul Haq, who was appointed high commissioner to India mid this year and had reached here to proceed to New Delhi, but India annexed Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) in early August, and Pakistan had to lowered echelon of diplomatic ties with India and the government decided not to consign Moin to India.

He later returned to Paris. He is likely to return Islamabad shortly. Highly placed sources in the Foreign Office told The News here Monday that Pakistan’s ambassador to Russia, Qazi Khalilullah, has been given another extension in service who has already spent four years in Kremlin, including one-year contractual period after reaching retirement age.

His wife is critically ill and under treatment in Moscow. The country will have new high commissioner in London in the second quarter of next year where Nafees Zikria will be attaining superannuation in May next. He could also aspire for extension in service, the sources hinted.

Additional Foreign Secretary Dr Aejaz Ahmad has been made ambassador to Hungry, and he will assume the assignment in Budapest next month. Dr Aejaz was looking after Afghanistan affairs in the Foreign Office.

Meanwhile, government has decided to convene envoy’s conference posted in Africa in the last week of the month in Islamabad. The conference will be helpful in bringing a much needed shuffle in the trajectory of the policy towards Africa where Indian presence and clout has been increasing in the recent years.

The envoy conference idea was conceived by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who will chair one of the sessions of the conference and will provide guideline to the ambassador and high commissioners of Pakistan in that important continent of the world.

The sources said that the Foreign Office will also hold envoy’s conference of other regions early next year. Special Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Moazzam Ahmad Khan is being assigned important task regarding the slated envoys conferences.