Diplomatic shuffle: Kabul appoints new envoy to Pakistan

Young but experienced diplomat Janan Mosazai to replace Daudzai.

ISLAMABAD:

Afghan foreign ministry spokesperson, Janan Mosazai, has been appointed the country’s new ambassador to Pakistan, The Express Tribune has learnt.

“I can confirm that Mosazai has been designated as Ambassador to Pakistan,” an Afghan official told The Express Tribune. President Hamid Karzai has approved the summary [of his appointment] from the foreign ministry, said the official, who did not wish to be named in the report.

Mosazai – a young but experienced diplomat – will be replacing Umer Daudzai who was appointed Afghanistan’s interior minister in September. The new envoy will be assuming charge at a time when relations between the two countries are facing multiple challenges.

Diplomatic sources in Islamabad said the new ambassador is likely to arrive in Pakistan later this month as the Afghan Embassy has to deal with important developments, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Kabul.

A delegation of the Afghan High Peace Council is also scheduled to visit Islamabad to meet senior Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. Nawaz had agreed in last month’s trilateral summit in London to allow the council’s members to visit Pakistan and meet Mullah Baradar.

Mosazai is familiar with Pakistan as he has accompanied President Karzai and Afghan foreign ministers on several recent trips to Islamabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2013.