Pakistan appoints new ambassador to US

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Foreign Office announced that Rizwan Saeed Sheikh would be the country’s new ambassador to the United States (US), ARY News reported.

The spokesperson of the Foreign Office, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch Rizwan Saeed Sheikh will replace Masood Khan from July 1.

“The Government of Pakistan has decided to appoint Additional Foreign Secretary (Middle East and SIFC) Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh as Pakistan’s new ambassador to Washington DC,” she added.

The incumbent ambassador to the US, Masood Khan was serving on a three-month extension as his contract ended in March. The three-month extension is set to expire on June 30.

Meanwhile, Zahra Baloch also announced Asim Iftikhar as Pakistan’s additional permanent representative to the United Nations in New York.

She said that the appointments were under consideration over the last several weeks.

In a media briefing, the spokesperson of the Foreign Office said that Pakistan will also participate in the Doha talks, saying that Special Representative for Afghanistan Asif Durrani and Ambassador Obaid Nizamani posted in Kabul will represent Pakistan.

The development came days after the United States (US) House of Representatives passed a resolution urging the government of Pakistan to uphold democratic institutions, human rights, and the rule of law.

A total of 368 members voted in favour of the House Resolution HR 901, titled ‘Expressing support for democracy and human rights in Pakistan’. Seven members voted against it.

The resolution — passed with 85 per cent of House members participating and 98pc voting in its favour — urged Islamabad to uphold democratic institutions, human rights, and the rule of law, and respect the fundamental guarantees of due process, freedom of press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech of the people of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the resolution also condemned attempts to suppress the people of Pakistan’s participation in their democracy, including through harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention, or any violation of their human, civil, or political rights. It also condemned any effort to subvert the political, electoral, or judicial processes of Pakistan.

Pakistan held general elections on February 8 with independent candidates backed by former PTI winning most of the seats. However, PML-N and PPP formed an alliance to keep Imran Khan’s party out of power.

The opposition parties have alleged rigging in the elections – a claim which was rejected by the caretaker administration, which conducted the polls.