Pakistan’s special envoy to Afghanistan resigns

ISLAMABAD: In a surprise move, Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq put in his papers Wednesday and resigned as Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, a post he had moved into in 2020.

While Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, to whom the ambassador reported directly, has accepted his resignation, the notification has not been made public and the former ambassador himself announced his resignation in a series of Tweets. The Special Representatives, mostly retired ambassadors, no longer report directly to the Foreign Office.

“After serving close to three years as Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, I have requested the government that the time has come for me to move on and focus on my personal pursuits, family, books and agriculture and environment,” he said.

His last official assignment made public was when Sadiq accompanied Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on a day trip to Kabul, for a very important meeting.

Sadiq was seen as a serious and hardworking diplomat seeking an improvement in bilateral relations with Afghanistan. When he had been named the Special Representative, he was greatly welcomed by Kabul, one of the few Pakistani diplomats held in high esteem there.

He had made good contacts in Afghanistan when he served as ambassador there in 2008, contacts that served him well when he returned. He had on his return from Kabul also served as Secretary National Security Division.

“I am grateful to the prime minister and stakeholders for their wholehearted support to me as Special Representative for Afghanistan. I deeply appreciate the hard work of many of my colleagues who spent long hours to make the Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship work,” Sadiq added.

Official sources told The News that Sadiq had approached the prime minister several times and requested to be relieved. Efforts are on to nominate a replacement for Sadiq and several names of retired ambassadors have come up but so far there has been no consensus. Since it is a sensitive assignment related directly to Pakistan’s security, there will be input from the GHQ and ISI and the new Special Representative will emerge as a consensus candidate.

Officials say that Sadiq has left at a time when in 2023 trade is expected to rise further, with trade links to the Central Asian Republics also taking off; more importantly, the new agreed Afghan policy is there which needs to be streamlined.

Sadiq had earlier welcomed the Convention between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which seeks to avoid double income tax. “This is an important step forward and it took us some 12 years to cross this milestone. Investors, contractors and businesses on both sides will benefit significantly,” he had said.

The fresh influx of Afghan refugees that streamed into Pakistan after the fall of Kabul resulted in Pakistan reaching out to different organisations for support. “This is an alarming situation and needs to be addressed at many levels. It is important that pull factors are created in Afghanistan so that not only the new exodus stops but refugees already in Pakistan return to their homes,” Sadiq commented.

As Pakistan’s Charge d’affaires, Ubaid Nizamani continues to remain in Pakistan after an attack on him. Sadiq has often raised his voice in meetings, saying that the security conditions in Kabul are not conducive for Pakistan’s top diplomat’s return. “Thank you so much for your selfless service to Pakistan, sir. I was immensely privileged to benefit from your matchless insights in the past few months. Wishing you the best in your future endeavours!” Charge d’ Affaires Ubaid Nizamani tweeted upon hearing the news of their resignation.

Sadiq himself now wants time for himself and will be concentrating on his land in Cholistan where he is working to cover large areas into forests and also spend time on his orchards and plant nurseries in the Attock region. It is expected that he will write a book about his experiences as a diplomat.