Pakistan names Tehmina Janjua as new foreign secretary

Career diplomat Tehmina Janjua was appointed as Pakistan’s first woman foreign secretary. Foreign Office said that Janjua will replace outgoing foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.

“Tehmina Janjua will assume the post of Foreign Secretary in the first week of March 2017,” FO said. Earlier local media reports had named Pakistan high commissioner to India Abdul Basit as the front-runner for the coveted post.

She was presently serving as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva. FO said that she is a seasoned diplomat with a career spanning over 32 years.

She holds Master’s degrees from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad and Columbia University, New York. She has rich experience of working in bilateral and multilateral domains both at Headquarters and Missions abroad, FO said.

She also served as Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during 2011. Janjua served as Ambassador of Pakistan to Italy from December 2011 to October 2015.

At present, she is serving as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in Geneva since October 2015.