WASHINGTON: The Pakistan Embassy in Washington has received nomination papers for Sardar Masood Khan, the country’s new envoy for the US.

Masood Khan will replace the current ambassador, Asad Majeed Khan, who will now return to Islamabad for his next assignment.

The embassy is expected to submit the papers, known as the agrément, to the US State Department by Monday. An agrément, in diplomatic parlance, is an agreement between states to receive and facilitate members of a diplomatic mission.

The State Department usually takes about a month to approve an agrément, which is then returned to Islamabad for further processing. The nominated ambassador also holds a series of meetings with senior members of the government, starting with the president, before he leaves the country. The entire process takes two to three months.

A new ambassador starts working from the day he arrives in Washington, but his formal designation begins from the day he submits his credentials to the US president.

This may take weeks or even months, depending on the US president’s schedule. The White House usually accommodates several ambassadors in one ceremony.

Masood Khan, who was AJK’s 27th president from Aug 25, 2016, to Aug. 25, 2021, is a retired diplomat. He twice served as Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva and New York and as ambassador to China.

After retirement, he headed the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad before returning to his native AJK as president.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2021