Tehmina Janjua becomes Pakistan's first woman foreign secretary

ISLAMABAD

: Pakistan on Monday appointed its permanent representative to the UN,

Tehmina Janjua

, as the country’s new foreign secretary.

She is the first woman to hold the key post. TOI had reported on January 26 that Janjua was the frontrunner and a clear chose of PM Nawaz Sharif. According to the foreign office, Janjua will take charge of her new position in the first week of March.

She will replace the outgoing foreign secretary,

Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry

, who has been appointed as ambassador to the US. Several diplomats were in the race for the country’s top bureaucratic position in foreign affairs, including Abdul Basit, Pakistan’s high commissioner to India.

Dawn reported Janjua has not served on a major territorial desk at the headquarters, except for a year-long posting at the

Soviet Union

and Eastern Europe desk at the start of her Foreign Service career. Sources said Sharif had approved Janjua’s name as far back as last summer when she was in Islamabad for envoys’ conference.

Janjua, who’d earlier served as ambassador to Italy, also worked as spokesperson of the foreign office for two years.

Her spouse

Mansur Ahmad

too is a diplomat, currently serving in Switzerland. Had seniority been the only criterion, Basit would have been a shoo in for the next FS.