The government of Pakistan has appointed Mumtaz Zahra Baloch as the new spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), reported Aaj News on Friday.

Her predecessor, Asim Iftikhar, is set to become Pakistan’s ambassador to France. Earlier this week, he presented his credentials to France’s Director of State Protocol Philippe Franc.

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Previously, Baloch served as additional secretary of Asia and the Pacific. She has also served as the ambassador of Pakistan to Korea, minister/deputy head of mission at the Beijing Embassy, counselor for political affairs at the Washington DC Embassy, and second secretary at the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the United Nations, Geneva.

Baloch holds a Master’s degree in Physics from Punjab University, a Master’s in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a degree from the prestigious Ecole Nationale d’ Administration in France.

According to a notification, Saima Syed, who is currently serving as the director-general (strategic communication division), has been appointed deputy spokesperson of MOFA.

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Syed has previously served as a counselor at the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the United Nations in New York from 2015-2018, as the first secretary at the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi from 2012-2015 and as the second secretary at the Embassy of Pakistan in Paris from 2007-2010.

At the FO, she has served as director (arms control and disarmament and science diplomacy), deputy chief of protocol and deputy director Europe.

Syed holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Quaid–i-Azam University.