Overview
- The government announced Wednesday that Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, will be the next foreign secretary after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the nomination.
- Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar publicly confirmed the choice and praised outgoing Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch for her service.
- Amna Baloch is scheduled to retire on September 17 and has been named to take up an ambassadorial posting to Türkiye after leaving the Foreign Office.
- Asim Iftikhar is a career diplomat who joined the foreign service in 1993 and brings decades of UN and multilateral experience from postings in New York, Geneva, Paris, Bangkok, France and Thailand.
- The handover will wait for Iftikhar to complete his UN posting and for transition steps in Islamabad, with senior officials likely to place an acting charge at the ministry if a gap appears and observers should watch for any formal extension or interim arrangements.