France govt okays appointment of new Pak envoy

ISLAMABAD: The French government has consented to appointment of Additional Foreign Secretary Asim Iftikhar Ahmad as Pakistan’s new ambassador to France.

Ahmad’s posting has taken place after two-year long saga, started with blasphemous caricatures in a French journal. Pakistan’s Ambassador to France Moeen ul Haq was first posted as high commissioner in New Delhi in 2019 but later he moved to China. Since then, the Paris Embassy is without an ambassador.

Well-placed diplomatic sources told The News that Asim Iftikhar is currently the spokesman of the Foreign Office and also looks after UN and ED. He will be leaving for the French capital on his new assignment next month. He had served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Thailand.

The Syrian government, meanwhile, accepted retired Air Marshal Shahid Akhtar as ambassador in Damascus while the Maldives has conveyed its consent for the appointment of Admiral Syed Fayyaz Gilani as envoy to Male. Both the envoys are likely to assume their responsibilities in their respective capitals in a couple of weeks, the sources added.