Pakistan's former High Commissioner to New Delhi, Abdul Basit, through an alleged letter, has criticized Pakistan Ambassador to United States Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry as the "worst foreign secretary ever" and also sought his immediate removal from his current ambassadorial slot in Washington DC in Pakistan's "interests." The letter went viral on the social media but its authenticity could not be verified as Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria was not available for comments either to verify its veracity or reject it.
Basit, through a letter dated July 05, 2017, purportedly written in response to Chaudhry's valedictory letter No. FSO-1/2017 of March 12, 2017 as foreign secretary, has lambasted the latter as Pakistan's foreign secretary.
Basit was replaced by Sohail Mahmood earlier this month following his early retirement as high commissioner in New Delhi due to difference of opinion he had earlier voiced on the appointment of the current Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua. "The more I think the more I am convinced that you have been the worst foreign secretary ever. My concern is that you would also end up being the worst Pakistan Ambassador in Washington DC," Basit stated in the alleged letter.
It further stated: "The reasons are simple. First, you are not made for the delicate profession of diplomacy. While I can cite many examples, the Ufa Joint Statement and Pakistan's humiliating defeat at the Human Rights Council are sufficient to prove my point. Second and it is more worrisome, your heart is not in the right place. In this regard the less said the better.
"I strongly feel that it is in Pakistan's interests that you should immediately be removed from Washington DC. If not so, you should not be given extension beyond your superannuation on February 27, 2018. May Allah help Pakistan when people like you with weak and dubious credentials are at such important positions," added the alleged letter.
Earlier in March 2017, Basit was among three other senior foreign services officers, who through a letter to the government, refused to work under a junior foreign services officer as their boss - Tehmina Janjua - after the government formally decided to appoint Junjua as the country's first ever woman foreign secretary.
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