Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad Saturday said that the United States had conveyed its ‘Agre’ment’ to the appointment of Sardar Masood Khan as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the US.
Responding to media queries regarding Khan’s appointment, the spokesperson in a press release said that the official approval by the US government had been conveyed in this regard. “Ambassador Masood Khan is a seasoned diplomat who has served Pakistan with distinction and honour. He would assume his responsibilities in Washington D.C. in due course of time,” it was further added.
Masood’s agrément was sent by the Foreign Office in November after Prime Minister Imran Khan nominated him as ambassador to the US. While normally it takes a few weeks for US State Department to process an agrément, eyebrows were being raised after the delay in issuance of the paperwork was dragged on and there was no sign from the State Department about its decision. At the same time on January 27, US Congressman Scot Perry had penned a letter to President Joe Biden which was consequently leaked to selected Indian media persons. It was a harsh letter full of venom against Masood and was picked up by the Indian media which ran reports that Washington had blocked the appointment. However, a report, published in The News, stated that Islamabad was satisfied with the normal bureaucratic process.
