New SAARC secretary from Pakistan assumes office

Amjad Hussain B Sial of Pakistan assumed office as the new secretary general of SAARC on Wednesday- the day Arjun Bahadur Thapa of Nepal completed his tenure in the office.

“Sial is a seasoned diplomat from Pakistan Foreign Service with a career spanning over 33 years. He has Master’s Degree in Defence and Strategic Studies from National Defence University, Islamabad,” a statement said.

Sial has rich experience in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy both at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad and missions abroad. He was Director (Pakistan) from 2003-2006 at SAARC Secretariat, Kathmandu.

Sial served as ambassador of Pakistan to the Republic of Tajikistan from 2011-2014 and ambassador/alternate permanent representative at Pakistan mission to the United Nations, New York.

Before joining SAARC Secretariat, he was special secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad.

SAARC- South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation- is the regional organisation of eight member countries. It could not make a desired progress due to long-standing feud between India and Pakistan, two giant South Asian countries.

Challenges before Sial include convening the 19th SAARC Summit in Pakistan, which was stalled after a militant attack at an Indian Army base in Uri, and brining India and Pakistan closer in key SAARC accords and projects among others.