The newly-appointed foreign secretary on Monday pledged that he would strive to protect the national interests of the country under guidance from the country’s leadership and Parliament.
Jalil Abbas Jilani – who assumed the charge of his new assignment over the weekend – told the officers of the ministry of foreign affairs that he would endeavour to work towards “promoting peace, stability and prosperity in this region and beyond”.
Jilani replaced Salman Bashir as the foreign secretary, who retired on March 3.
In his maiden interaction with the officers, the new foreign secretary said Pakistan had always conducted its foreign relations on the basis of international law and UN charter principles.
“The Foreign Office, as one of the premier national institutions, would continue striving to protect and promote Pakistan’s national interests,” he said.
“In this pursuit and, as head of the institution, I would be guided by the country’s leadership and parliamentarians.”
Jilani, who also met Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday, is a career diplomat and assumed charge of one of the country’s top diplomatic positions at a time when Pakistan is facing huge challenges on the foreign policy front.
His immediate challenge would be to steer Pakistan’s strained relations with the United States out of a deepening crises.
The high-level exchanges between the two countries are expected to revive later this month when parliament approves the new terms of engagements with the US.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 6th, 2012.
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i hope he can wrest back the control over foreign polivthe clutched of the GHQ so that some realism and pragmatism in our global viewpoint.