Foreign secretary-designate returns to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador Amna Baloch, appointed as the 32nd Foreign Secretary at the Foreign Office, has arrived in Islamabad from Brussels to take over her new assignment on September 11.

Ambassador Baloch, a Grade 22 diplomat, has been serving as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg before being appointed as the foreign secretary. She will be the second woman in this senior position in the Foreign Office, after Tehmina Janjua who was appointed as the first woman foreign secretary in February 2017. Interestingly, both were appointed when the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) occupied the Prime Minister’s Office. Ambassador Baloch was the second most senior diplomat at the Foreign Office, at the time of her appointment as foreign secretary.

Baloch will be taking over from Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi who has had a short tenure at the Foreign Office. He assumed charge as the 32nd Foreign Secretary of Pakistan on August 17, 2023, and will be retiring on September 10.

The first to welcome the incoming Foreign Secretary was Riina Kionka, Ambassador of the European Union to Pakistan. “Thrilled that another Pakistani to Europe will be foreign secretary, a recognition of a rich experience and an honour for the European Union. Congratulations Ambassador,” Ambassador Kionka tweeted. The earlier one was the former Pakistani EU Ambassador Asad Majid Khan who was also appointed foreign secretary while serving as Ambassador to the European Union.

Before joining as Pakistan’s Ambassador to EU, Belgium & Luxembourg, Ambassador Amna Baloch served as High Commissioner of Pakistan in Malaysia. She received a master’s degree in history and joined the Pakistan Foreign Service in 1991. She has served at various important assignments at the headquarters and missions abroad including Consul General of Pakistan at Chengdu, China; Minister Counsellor at Colombo, Sri Lanka; Joint Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office and Additional Secretary in the Foreign Minister’s office. Baloch is married and has two daughters. Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, currently Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, will be Pakistan’s new ambassador to Belgium and the European Union.