Pakistan appoints Asif Durrani as special envoy for Afghanistan

• Special envoy will directly report to PM Office.
• Durrani is a career diplomat for 32 years.
• He earlier served as deputy chief of Pakistan's mission in Kabul.

ISLAMABAD: Asif Ali Khan Durrani, a career diplomat for 32 years, has been appointed as a special representative on Afghanistan as relations between the two neighbouring nations remain complicated.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointed Durrani two months after the post fell vacant in March when his predecessor Mohammad Sadiq resigned after serving for almost three years. Sadiq's resignation came following the unsuccessful peace talks with the banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Kabul, which were originally initiated by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

Upon assuming office, Durrani will directly report to the PM Office. Durrani, on Tuesday, called on the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar.

Durrani's appointment comes at a time when the expansion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into Afghanistan is under discussion with the aim to connect the landlocked Central Asian region with the world via Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Earlier this month when the foreign ministers of China and Afghanistan visited Islamabad for a trilateral dialogue, the three nations stressed the importance of exploring realistic pathways towards the revival of the Afghan economy by underscoring the imperative to generate economic activity within Afghanistan.

The three sides reaffirmed their resolve to fully harness Afghanistan’s potential as a hub for regional connectivity. “Reaffirming their commitment to further the trilateral cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and to jointly extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan.”

Durrani's appointment also remains crucial, as the country remains in the grip of terrorism with attacks on law enforcement agency personnel and innocent citizens have witnessed a swift increase including the recent destruction of girls' schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

During his visit to Pakistan earlier this month, Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi urged Islamabad and TTP, which is known to be behind most attacks in the country, to sit together for a dialogue.

Islamabad had held several rounds of talks — brokered by Kabul — with the outlawed TTP but the negotiations failed last year after which the militant group started terror activities.

Who is Asif Durrani?

From 2005 to 2009, Durrani — a career diplomat for 32 years — served as the deputy chief of Pakistan's mission in Kabul. The former ambassador is fluent in Pashto and Dari — languages widely spoken across Afghanistan.

He has served as Pakistan's ambassador to Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Durrani earlier performed his duties in various diplomatic postings including those in New Delhi, New York, Kabul and London.

The former ambassador was also posted as part of the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations in New York during his early diplomatic career.

At present, Durrani was working as a senior research fellow in the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI). He hails from a family of seasoned bureaucrats and diplomats from Balochistan's Quetta city.