Pakistan's high commissioner to India named new foreign secretary

MULTAN: Pakistan’s High Commissioner in New Delhi Sohail Mahmood will become new Foreign Secretary of the country upon superannuation of incumbent Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua who is retiring next month.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi confirmed his appointment while speaking to the media in Multan.

“We’ve decided to appoint Sohail Mahmood as Foreign Secretary,” he said and added the decision has been taken in consultation with Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The foreign minister said Sohail Mahmood will assume office upon superannuation of Tehmina Janjua on April 16.

“I want to pay tribute to Tehmina Janjua with whom I have been working for the last seven months,” he said, adding that he has learnt a lot from her. He said Sohail Mahmood had served in crucial positions, including as Pakistan’s envoy in Thailand and Turkey.

In a reference to the opposition’s criticism of the government over National Accountability Bureau (NAB) actions, Qureshi said NAB is not subservient to the government, therefore, they couldn’t interfere its affairs. The NAB enjoyed the right to conduct accountability of all, he added.

Speaking about the reported government decision to rename the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), he said he was not in favour of changing the name of the programme.

Defending the proposed increase in fuel prices for the month of April, he said prices of petroleum products were being increased to keep up their prices in the international market.