ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Tuesday rejected as a “wider disinformation campaign” the propaganda drive India was running against Pakistan over the appointment of former Azad Jammu and Kashmir president Masood Khan as ambassador to the United States.
In November, Islamabad announced the nomination of Khan as ambassador to Washington to replace Asad Majeed Khan whose term expired in January. His nomination was aimed at projecting the Kashmir dispute at the international level.
But on Sunday, a radical Republican Congressman, Scott Perry, in a letter to Joe Biden, urged the US president to turn down Khan’s nomination who he claimed was “working to undermine our interests in the region, as well as the security of our Indian allies”.
The letter prompted the Pakistan-obsessed Indian media to declare the United States has “blocked” Khan’s appointment.
The impression of a pause in the process was triggered by the State Department which has been taking unusually long to process the agreement.
Responding to a question regarding the reports concerning Khan’s appointment appearing in Indian media, Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said: “This is a part of the wider Indian disinformation campaign to malign Pakistan and those who represent Pakistan, by using fake news to make scandalous claims and baseless allegations.”
He observed Khan is a highly accomplished diplomat with over 40 years of experience in both multilateral and bilateral diplomacy.
“His Agreement is being processed in the US system,” Ahmed asserted.
Asad was appointed to the post in January 2019. He replaced Ali Jehangir Siddiqui, a career banker, who was appointed in May 2018 by the government of then-prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi days before its departure.
Siddiqui held the position for over seven months until December 2018 before being relieved of his duties by the incumbent government.
Khan has also served as Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, and ambassador to China.
