US Senate approves senior ambassador Donald Armin Blome's nomination as ambassador to Pakistan
Blome will be the first US ambassador to Pakistan since August 2018. Washington has not appointed an ambassador to Islamabad for three-and-a-half years.
The US Senate has approved the nomination of Senior Ambassador Donald Armin Blome as Ambassador to Pakistan.
Donald Blome will be the first US Ambassador to Pakistan after August 2018, before David Haley was the US Ambassador to Pakistan The post remained vacant for the next three and a half years.
Donald Blome is a career diplomat and has previously served as a diplomat in Kabul, Jerusalem, Cairo, Baghdad and Kuwait.
He had said in his address that if approved, he would put pressure on Pakistan to take action against all terrorist groups without any discrimination.
US State Department experts say that while it is welcome that the US Ambassador to Pakistan will now be present, it does not appear to have made a significant difference in US-Pakistan relations. Afghanistan issues and terrorism issues will remain important.
According to US broadcaster Sehar Khan, a research fellow in defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute in the United States, said Blome's excellent diplomatic experience, his versatility in the region and his knowledge of the region helped him improve Pakistan-US relations.
He said the improvement in US-Pakistan relations depended on what the Biden administration wanted to put pressure on. Safra has worked on the same issues before him.
Michael Kogelman, deputy director of South Asian affairs at the Wilson Center in the United States, agreed with Sahar Khan and said that the new ambassador would also take his orders from Washington. The US ambassador will be present, which will speed up diplomacy.
Kogelman said that Pakistan believes that the US is using FATF against Pakistan, which is not conducive to improving relations. Washington must remove this influence and reassure Islamabad that the US FATF is not interfering in the affairs.
During the hearing in the Senate, the US ambassador said that he would try to increase economic ties with Pakistan. And will work on issues such as the implementation of agreements.
The State Department, in a tweet congratulating Donald Blome on his appointment as ambassador, said that the partnership with Pakistan is important for the United States to improve security, trade, investment, climate crisis and human rights in the region.
Pakistan's Ambassador to the US Asad Majeed Khan also congratulated Donald Blome in his tweet and said that he hoped that he could work with him in the future to further strengthen the Pakistan-US partnership.