US pauses Masood Khan`s appointment as Pak Ambassador over `possible terror links`- All you need to know

Masood Khan was nominated as Ambassador to the US in November. A former foreign secretary said that normally, the State Department took four to six weeks to issue an agreement for Pakistani ambassadors in the past.

New Delhi: The US State Department has been taking unusually long to process the appointment of the Pakistan Ambassador-designate to the United States Masood Khan. This delay has triggered an impression of a pause in the process.

Masood Khan was to replace the outgoing Ambassador of Pakistan in Washington, Asad Majeed Khan.

Normally, the State Department took four to six weeks to issue an agreement for Pakistani ambassadors in the past, a former foreign secretary said. "This time they are taking unusually long," Dawn news quoted another diplomat as saying.

Many believe that concerns over the delay could have emerged after Congressman Scott Perry’s wrote a letter to President Joe Biden. In the letter, Scott Perry called Masood Khan a “jihadist” and “a bona fide terrorist sympathiser”. The Congressman also demanded that the Khan’s nomination should be rejected, as he was working to undermine US interests as well the “security of our Indian allies”.

The US interest in Pakistan has waned after it pulled out of Afghanistan. Moreover, Washington looks at ties with Pakistan from the prism of its strategic competition with China, although Islamabad has repeatedly said that it was not part of any camp politics.

"While I`m encouraged that the State Department has reportedly placed a pause on approving Masood Khan as the new ambassador from Pakistan, a pause is not enough. I urge you to reject any diplomatic credentials presented to you by Masood Khan and reject any effort by the government of Pakistan to install this jihadist as Pakistan`s ambassador to the US," Scott Perry, a Congressman, wrote to President Joe Biden.

Who is Masood Khan? 

A diplomat who joined Pakistan’s foreign service in 1980. Masood Khan was nominated as Ambassador to the US in November.

Khan served as President of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) till last August. He had previously served as Pakistan`s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva and New York and as Ambassador to China.

(With agency inputs)