ISLAMABAD: The American administration is taking too long to give final approval for the appointment of Pakistan’s ambassador-designate to the United States, Masood Khan.
The State Department is taking unusually long to process the agrément of Pak envoy, Masood Khan. The delay has triggered an impression of a pause in the process.
Masood Khan, who served as Azad Kashmir’s president till last August, was nominated as ambassador to the US in November. He had previously served as Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva and New York and as ambassador to China.
Masood Khan was to replace the outgoing ambassador of Pakistan in Washington Asad Majeed Khan.
The request for agrément for Masood Khan had been sent to the State Department in the second week of November, a Pakistani diplomat said.
The agrément is the approval of a designated diplomat by the receiving state.
The delay has happened at a time when ties between the two allies have turned increasingly frosty due to the geo-political environment.
The US interest in Pakistan has waned after it pulled out of Afghanistan. Moreover, Washington looks at ties with Pakistan from the prism of its strategic competition with China, although Islamabad has repeatedly said that it was not part of any camp politics.
Indian lobby in Washington is looking at the delay as an opportunity for itself and is trying to scuttle Masood Khan’s appointment on the pretext of his advocacy for the Kashmiri freedom struggle.
“While I’m encouraged that the State Department has reportedly placed a pause on approving Masood Khan as the new ambassador from Pakistan, a pause is not enough. I urge you to reject any diplomatic credentials presented to you by Masood Khan and reject any effort by the Government of Pakistan to install this jihadist as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States,” Scott Perry, a congressman, wrote to President Biden, the DAWN reported.
Meanwhile, People in FO believe that the delay was because of Masood Khan’s last position as the president of AJK.
FO Spokesman Asim Iftikhar did not respond to a query sent to him on this issue.
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