Islamabad, Feb 1 (Asia Free Press): Pakistan Foreign Office has clarified that Sardar Masood Khan’s agrément as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Washington is being processed in the US system, according to local media.
Responding to the queries of media persons regarding the reports carried by Indian media on Pakistan’s decision to appoint Sardar Masood Khan as Ambassador to the US, Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said this is a part of the broader Indian disinformation campaign to malign Pakistan and those who represent Pakistan by using fake news to make scandalous claims and baseless allegations, reported state-run Radio Pakistan.
The spokesperson said Ambassador Masood Khan is a highly accomplished diplomat with forty years of experience in both multilateral and bilateral diplomacy.
The US State Department has been taking unusually long to process the agrément of Pakistan’s ambassador-designate to the United States, Masood Khan. The delay has triggered an impression of a pause in the process.
In November, Mr Khan, who served as Azad Kashmir’s president till August 2021, was nominated as ambassador to the US. He had previously served as Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva and New York and as ambassador to China.
Mr Khan was to replace the outgoing ambassador of Pakistan in Washington, Asad Majeed Khan.
A Pakistani diplomat said that the request for agrément for Masood Khan had been sent to the State Department in the second week of November.