In the good old days when merit reigned supreme in the Foreign Office, Pakistani envoys to the most important diplomatic stations such as Washington DC, London and UN-New York City used to be exceptionally accomplished and polished diplomats such as Sheheryar Khan, Riaz Khokar, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Humayun Khan, Iqbal Akhund and Inam ul Haq, who could compare favourably with diplomats from any country in the world. In this era when the competition is not of brilliance or skills, but rather the weight of sifarish one can pull, or the level of sycophancy and intrigue one can manage, the quality of envoys to top stations has fallen abysmally.
The latest ambassadorial posting plan, which has just been announced is a singular example. One of the most coveted diplomatic stations in the plan, London, has been landed by nobody other than Moazzam Ahmad Khan, the head of administration himself. Khan’s main claim to fame is that he was staff officer to the incumbent Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in his previous stint, whereby he was able to develop bonds of loyalty. While his era as the head of administration would be remembered for instituting sifarish as the pivotal component of postings criteria, as well as a paralysis of decision making and failures in financial management (with embassies/high commissions not receiving their monthly remittances for months forcing them to pend payment of salaries and rents), his own posting is an epitome of violation of rules, procedures and merit.
All officers getting posted back to Islamabad, after six years abroad, are required to serve two years at the headquarters. In fact, many officers with two years stay at headquarters have been asked to stay a bit longer this time around. But Moazzam Khan, who came back to Islamabad after seven years abroad, just a year ago, has been allowed to go on a posting after such a short stay. And that too to a crème de la crème station. There were other more senior, better qualified and suitable candidates who were manipulated into being posted to less important stations by employing below the belt tactics. The word in the Foreign Office is that Moazzam Khan misled the most suitable candidate for London, Jauhar Saleem, who is not only the senior most officer of the Foreign Service of Pakistan (FSP) available for ambassadorial posting, and is known as the most qualified and eloquent diplomat in the current lot, but also had worked more years in the Europe Division at the Foreign Office than any other officer in the entire service. Besides, he possesses eight years of experience of having been an ambassador in European capitals — including four and a half years in Berlin. He was shrewdly misinformed into believing that the present incumbent in London, as well as the one in Beijing, were getting extensions post retirement. With that pretext, Ambassador Saleem was posted to Rome and the posting plan was delayed until the time he reached there so not to be available for a posting anymore, paving the way for Moazzam to grab London.
Seldom in the history of Foreign Office a head of administration has misused his position to land an undeserving, out of turn, posting to that degree.
Another notable victim has been Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, the Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand. Though he deserved to be posted as Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to UN-Geneva, given his rich experience and seniority, a relatively junior officer Khalil Hashmi was appointed there because of extraneous factors, reportedly. Ambassador Ahmad was expected to be posted to Paris, this time around, given that he is a francophone as well, but he was ignored yet again.
It is ironical that the two officers with the elements to be compared to the luminaries of the heydays of the Foreign Service of Pakistan (FSP) have been both side-lined. All hail the era of triumph of mediocrity in the Foreign Office, perhaps?
Yet another glaring unfairness in the plan is the posting of envoy to Afghanistan, Zahid Nasrullah, to Pnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Such a senior officer in grade 22, who completed the challenging assignment of Kabul after Seoul, does not deserve to be treated as a junior ambassador; especially when several officers many years junior to him, and presently in grade 20 were posted to some of the most important diplomatic posts in the previous plan in an unprecedented celebration of the sifarish culture. Reportedly, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has taken notice of this anomaly and Nasrullah may be asked to stay on in Kabul or return to Islamabad.
The posting of senior Additional Foreign Secretaries in grade 21 such as Aftab Khokhar and Zahoor Ahmed to Vienna and Stockholm, respectively, again highlights the outrageousness of posting much junior officers in grade 20 to the most important capitals done recently. Even in this plan, Sajid Bilal a relatively junior grade 20 officer has been posted to Cairo, an important capital for Pakistan, which is usually not assigned to first time ambassadors. On the other hand, Chief of Protocol, Murad Ashraf Janjua, despite being much senior and in grade 21, and enjoying a stellar reputation, has been posted to a far-off place like New Zealand.
In another notable development, High Commissioner-designate to New Delhi, Moin ul Haque’s posting to Beijing suggests that the diplomatic relations with India would remain downgraded for the foreseeable future given ongoing hostilities in the region.
The triumph of mediocrity and manipulation in the Foreign Office seems to be a fait accompli. One wonders who to congratulate on this job well done. The biggest sufferer is, however, the institution which is getting weakened by the day and has become a pale shadow of the glorious FSP of yesteryears.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, with his agenda of reform and meritocracy needs to take notice of the situation. Posting of ambassadors who would represent Pakistan all over the world in these critical times is a serious matter and cannot be left to the whims of personal preferences. A proper mechanism needs to be developed perhaps by forming an inter-ministerial committee that would include some eminent former foreign secretaries.
The writer is Associate Editor (Diplomatic Affairs), Daily Times. He tweets @mhassankhan06
