Abdul Basit Khan will be the new Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi, according to official sources on Thursday. Mr. Khan was serving as the Ambassador to Germany and was also tipped to be Foreign Secretary earlier.
Official sources confirmed that Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry will be the new Foreign Secretary replacing Jalil Abbas Jillani who was appointed the U.S. Ambassador. Mr. Khan, a career diplomat, didn’t make the cut as Foreign Secretary and will replace Salman Bashir in India. Earlier reports said Syed Ibne Abbas was slated to take over from Bashir.
Before his appointment in Germany, Mr. Khan had served as the Director General and spokesperson ministry of foreign affairs in 2008-2009, and later was additional secretary (Europe) and also the spokesperson from 2009-2012.
An official statement said the special selection board chaired by the Prime Minister approved several promotions on Thursday including those of foreign service officers Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry and others. The government said no one was superseded in any cadre or service. The government’s flip flop on foreign service appointments was finally settled on Thursday.
