Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit is set to become the country’s new foreign secretary.
Basit was selected for the job three years back but couldn’t be appointed due to technical reasons and was instead posted as high commissioner in New Delhi.
As per reports, Nawaz Sharif government has decided to appoint Basit as the country’s new foreign secretary, replacing Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry who has been designated as Pakistan’s ambassador to the US.
Prime Minister Sharif, who is also retaining the portfolio of the Foreign Affairs, has concluded consultations for appointing new administrative head of the Foreign Office.
It is likely that the announcement pertaining to the appointment of Basit would be made next week, the report said.
58-year-old Basit is the senior most among the contenders for the top post.
Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations Geneva headquarters Tehmina Janjua, Pakistan’s former Chief of Protocol and Ambassador to France Ghalib Iqbal, country’s ambassador for Denmark Masroor Junejo and Pakistan’s High Commissioner for United Kingdom Syed Ibne Hasan were the other contenders for the post.
Pakistan will take the decision about new High Commissioner in India after Basit’s return.
