Celina Ali
Islamabad: Pakistan’s seasoned diplomat and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, has been appointed the country’s next foreign secretary, bringing more than three decades of experience in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy to the Foreign Office’s top administrative and policy position.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar announced the appointment, expressing confidence that Ambassador Ahmad’s extensive diplomatic experience, particularly in United Nations affairs and multilateral diplomacy, would help steer Pakistan’s foreign policy apparatus at a time of profound geopolitical change.
In a post on X, Dar said he was confident that, under Ambassador Asim’s leadership, the Foreign Office would continue to advance Pakistan’s national interests “with clarity, professionalism and purpose”, while building on the work undertaken by outgoing Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch and her predecessors.
The appointment of Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad has been approved by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Ambassador Ahmad, who joined Pakistan’s Foreign Service in 1993, has held a wide range of senior diplomatic and policy positions during a career spanning more than 30 years. His assignments have taken him across Europe, Africa and Asia, as well as to some of the world’s most important multilateral diplomatic centres, including New York, Geneva, Paris and Vienna.
His career has given him particularly extensive exposure to United Nations diplomacy, international organisations, multilateral negotiations and global political affairs, areas that are expected to be important as he assumes charge of the Foreign Office.
Before his current assignment as Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Ahmad served as Pakistan’s ambassador to France and Monaco and permanent delegate to UNESCO from November 2022 to December 2024.
During his tenure in Paris, he played an important role in strengthening Pakistan’s engagement with France and in advancing the country’s interests within UNESCO and other multilateral forums.
His diplomatic career has also included a key stint as spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from August 2021 to November 2022. During the same period, he served as additional foreign secretary, first heading the Asia Pacific Division and subsequently the United Nations and Economic Diplomacy Division.
The assignments placed him at the centre of Pakistan’s foreign-policy formulation and provided him with extensive experience in dealing with regional developments, international diplomacy, economic diplomacy and the country’s engagement with the United Nations system.
Earlier, from 2017 to 2021, Ambassador Ahmad served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Thailand. His first overseas diplomatic assignment was in Niamey, Niger, where he served from 1997 to 2000.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has served in the Personnel, Europe and Africa divisions, handling a broad range of policy, diplomatic and administrative responsibilities.
Ambassador Ahmad has built a particularly strong profile in multilateral diplomacy. His career includes several assignments at Pakistan’s missions to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, as well as diplomatic responsibilities involving major international organisations.
He served as Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok and subsequently represented Pakistan at UNESCO in Paris.
At UNESCO, he also served as vice chair of the Asia-Pacific Group on the Executive Board and as vice chair of the General Conference, giving him valuable experience in international negotiations and multilateral decision-making.
His experience in UN affairs was further strengthened during his tenure heading the United Nations Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In that role, he dealt with a broad spectrum of international issues, including peace and security, development, climate change and human rights.
Ambassador Ahmad also has substantial experience of diplomacy at the United Nations headquarters in New York. During assignments there from 2003 to 2009 and again from 2012 to 2014, he handled political, peace and security and UN reform matters.
His responsibilities included issues relating to the UN Security Council and its reform, political affairs in the General Assembly, the Special Political and Decolonization Committee, conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace-building.
His diplomatic exposure extends across Pakistan’s missions in New York, Geneva, Rome, Vienna, Paris and Nairobi, providing him with a broad understanding of both bilateral relations and the workings of the multilateral international system.
The new foreign secretary is also academically distinguished. He graduated from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, in 1991 with a degree in Electrical Engineering and was awarded a gold medal.
He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Punjab, Lahore, which he completed in 1988, also securing a gold medal.
Born in Lahore on November 27, 1966, Ambassador Ahmad is married to Asma and has three daughters.
Outgoing Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch, Pakistan’s 33rd foreign secretary, will retire from government service on September 17, 2026, bringing to an end a distinguished diplomatic career spanning more than three decades.
Deputy Prime Minister Dar paid tribute to Baloch for her dedicated public service and leadership of the Foreign Ministry, particularly during an important and challenging period in Pakistan’s diplomatic history.
“Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch leaves behind a legacy of dedicated public service, and carries with her our warmest wishes,” Dar said.
Following her retirement from government service, Baloch will assume a new diplomatic responsibility as Pakistan’s ambassador to Türkiye.
Dar expressed confidence that she would continue to represent Pakistan with distinction in her new assignment.
The appointment of Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad as foreign secretary marks the elevation of a diplomat with extensive experience at the United Nations and in major bilateral capitals to one of the country’s most important foreign-policy positions.
With his long association with multilateral diplomacy, UN affairs, international organisations and foreign-policy formulation, Ambassador Ahmad is set to take charge of the Foreign Office at a particularly complex moment in international relations, when Pakistan is navigating an increasingly fluid regional and global environment.
