Asim Iftikhar assumes charge as APR at UN

ISLAMABAD: Senior diplomat Asim Iftikhar has assumed charge as additional permanent representative (APR) of Pakistan at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York.

He was Pakistan’s Ambassador to France before moving to the UN headquarters.

The sources told The News here Friday that Asim Iftikhar would become the country’s permanent representative (PR) at the headquarters in April this year on the retirement of incumbent Munir Akram. Till then he would continue to work as APR.

Additional Foreign Secretary for PD/SC in the Foreign Office Ms Mumtaz Zehra Baloch has already been appointed ambassador in Paris. She is the spokesperson for Foreign Affairs at the headquarters. It is likely that she would move to French capital next month. The Foreign Office is working to find her replacement.

Meanwhile, Foreign Office is struggling to find an envoy for Brussels. Pakistan mission has been without an ambassador for about four months.

Foreign Secretary Ms Amna Baloch, who was the country’s ambassador in Brussels, was designated Foreign Secretary in August this year and since then the important capital is without an envoy.

Ms Amna visited Brussels last month for a meeting but the Foreign Office couldn’t designate ambassador for the capital.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Rizwan Saeed Sheikh has reached Pakistan for consultations and seeking fresh instructions regarding new trajectory of Islamabad’s relations with Washington. The sources said that he has landed in Karachi and would return after significant meetings in Islamabad on Monday and beyond.