Ex-AJK president Masood Khan to be appointed ambassador to US

• Pakistan names new envoy to US.
• Dr Asad Majeed Khan's tenure will be completed in January 2022.
• Summary to appoint Masood Khan moved.

ISLAMABAD: Former Azad Jammu Kashmir president Masood Khan will be appointed Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, a formal summary for which has been moved, according to sources.

He will replace Dr Asad Majeed Khan, who is currently heading the country’s mission to Washington since 2019 and will soon complete his tenure.

Masood was appointed as the 27th president of Azad Kashmir by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 2016. He was replaced by PTI’s Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhary following the AJK elections in August 2021.

He is a career diplomat who has served the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in different capacities since 1980, before elevation as the AJK president.

A vocal and strong advocate of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan, Masood effectively highlighted the sufferings of the oppressed Kashmiris that warrant an effective strategy to end the never-ending holocaust.

The former AJK president also served as the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from August 2003 to March 2005, before becoming Pakistan’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and International Organisations in Geneva, Switzerland, from 2005 to 2008.

He was also Pakistan’s Ambassador to China between September 2008 and September 2012 and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York, between October 11, 2012 and February 7, 2015.