Green signal: Envoy to US may get 2-year extension

Jalil Abbas Jilani is scheduled to retire next month

ISLAMABAD: The federal government is likely to give a two-year extension to Pakistan’s current Ambassador to the United States Jalil Abbas Jilani, who is scheduled to retire next month after reaching the age of superannuation.

A government official told The Express Tribune on Friday that Jilani, who recently visited Islamabad, was given the green signal by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to continue as Pakistan’s envoy for another two years. The official, who didn’t want to be named, said the formal notification in this regard would be issued soon.

Jilani, a career diplomat, was appointed for the key diplomatic post in 2013. He is set to reach the superannuation in February.

The official said the government initially considered Maleeha Lodhi to replace Jilani, but the current envoy to the US successfully managed to lobby for an extension in service.

Maleeha was then appointed Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York. She will replace Masood Khan, who was believed to be also pushing for an extension.

Jilani, 60, joined the Foreign Service in 1979 and is highly regarded by his colleagues as a professional diplomat. He served on important positions before being appointed foreign secretary in March 2012.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2015.