Ambassadors, high commissioners: Sartaj denies government making political appointments

Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Monday dispelled the impression that the government was making political appointments on the vacant ambassadorial slots in some countries. Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired by Senator Haji Adeel, the Advisor said that there were 10 vacant ambassadorial slots in world capitals out of the total 86.
He said that appointment of six ambassadors/high commissioners were in the pipeline due to certain formalities by the host countries while there was a delay on four slots. He said that the ambassadorial slots were lying vacant in countries like Turkey, Canada, Indonesia, Egypt, Sudan, Kazakhstan and Senegal. However, the newly appointed ambassador have already reached Kazakhstan while for Turkey, the new envoy will be leaving in a week, he added.
On the remaining, he said that there were some formalities to be fulfilled like consent of the host countries in appointment of the remaining ambassadors/high commissioners and as soon as these were approved they will be sent. About giving extension to Pakistan Ambassador in United States Jalil Abbas Jilani, the Adviser said that the extension was rightly given because due to his one year term in Washington, the relations between the two countries have been improved and there was no alternate candidate to fill the slot in case the extension was not granted.
Earlier, committee members, including Mushahid Hussain Syed and Farhatullah Babar, expressed displeasure over the delay in appointment of certain ambassadorial slots. Mushahid pointed out that an important position in Indonesia is lying vacant for long while no Pakistani leader has visited the country to meet the elected Prime Minister of Indonesia since his election to the office. In a light mood, Babar pointed out that since retired military generals have their quota in the foreign services, the career diplomats should also have some quota in the attached department of Pakistan military.