Is the US delaying the Pakistani ambassador’s agrément?

The India-Pakistan struggle over disputed Kashmir is resonating in Washington’s diplomatic circles after Islamabad picked a staunch Kashmiri as its ambassador to the United States. 

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistani government nominated Masood Khan, a retired career diplomat, as the new ambassador in November. US President Joe Biden’s administration has yet to approve his agrément. 

A pro-India group, a US congressman and an Islamophobic think-tank, have called to stop Masood from taking the important post. 

Masood, 70, previously served as President of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The other half of the heavily-militarised region is administered by India. 

The US Department of State’s press office hasn’t responded to TRT World’s questions on why the ambassador's appointment hasn’t been confirmed, despite more than two months having passed. 

But a former Pakistani diplomat said that it wasn’t unusual for a government to take two to three months. 

“Masood is a distinguished diplomat. He has served in the US before. I don’t see any reason for them to disqualify him,” said Shamshad Ahmad Khan, Pakistan’s former foreign secretary. 

“But as a host country the US will be well within its rights to reject Masood’s nomination if it wants to.” 

The issue has cropped up at a time when the US is using its diplomatic firepower to counter Russia, which has amassed forces along the border with Ukraine. 

The US government is also preoccupied with the continuing spread of the pandemic, a sharp rise in prices, the perceived threat from China, and the Iran nuclear crisis. 

“The Biden administration has a lot on its policy plate, especially the pandemic, and it’s been in office for a relatively brief period. So this could easily be an issue of bandwidth and bureaucracy,” said Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based expert on South Asia. 

Can Washington dawdle on Masood Khan’s confirmation? “That can’t be ruled out,” Kugelman said. 

Masood has been a vocal critic of India’s treatment of Kashmiris. In 2019, New Delhi made controversial constitutional changes to take away the nominal autonomy of Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority region in India. 

Tens of thousands of Kashmiris have been killed in fighting between separatist militants and the Indian military. 

“We should remain persistent in knocking on their doors until they open them and hear us out. The UN Security Council must be coaxed, goaded and pushed to create conditions for the implementation of its own resolutions on Kashmir,” Masood wrote in 2020. 

“The fate of 14 million Kashmiris is at stake. In this context, we will continue to work on influential parliaments whose weight will be felt by the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council,” he said. 

However, Masood’s stance on Kashmir and India is not unusual for Pakistani diplomats and government officials. 

“Whoever has been Pakistan’s top diplomat in the US has taken an equally hard line against India,” said Syed Ali Zia Jaffery, a Research Associate at the Centre for Security, Strategy and Policy Research.

Yet, Masood has been relentlessly targeted in recent weeks. 

US congressman Scott Perry accused Masood of being a “bonafide terrorist sympathiser” who can undermine “the security of our Indian allies.”

Perry has previously been rebuked for his "Islamophobic remarks" against US lawmaker Ilhan Omar, whom he accused of being part of a terrorist organisation. 

Similar views have been echoed by the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies, a California-based lobby group, which said in a statement that his appointment could complicate Washington’s relations with New Delhi. 

The points being used to vilify Masood, such as his praise of Kashmiri separatist leader Burhan Wani, were first circulated in November by Sam Westrop, who works for the Middle East Forum, a Pheladelphia based think-tank with a history of strong anti-Muslim bias.

Wani, who was killed by Indian forces in 2016, is considered a hero by many Pakistanis, who support a significant number of Kashmiris fighting for their independence from Indian rule. 

“India worries about his deep association with Kashmir,” said Kugelman, referring to Masood’s tenure as Pakistan-administered Kashmir’s president and his strong views about the rights of Kashmiri people. 

“It’s the combination of his previous affiliation and his ideological and political views on Kashmir that have rankled India.” 

Masood became a well-known figure in Islamabad after taking charge as Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman in 2003, as the US was consolidating its hold on Afghanistan. 

Even Indian journalists who attended his weekly press briefings back then remember him as easily accessible and polite. “He was not just good, he was excellent,” one of them told Indian Express. 

Masood retired from the diplomatic service in 2015. Successive governments nominated him for important posts - he served as Pakistan's ambassador to China and permanent representative at the UN. 

Shamshad, the former foreign secretary, said Imran Khan’s government has gone out of its way to select Masood as Pakistan’s key man in Washington. 

“I am fundamentally against extensions for diplomats after retirement. There are many young, smart people in our diplomatic service who would do an equally good job at representing our interests,” said Shamshad. 

Although Masood has come under the spotlight for his statements against India and his strong position on Kashmir, his diplomatic finesse has been admired even by rivals. 

In his most recent article titled “Balancing Geopolitics and Geoeconomics,” published in the Karachi-based Narratives Magazine, Masood heavily emphasised the need to reduce Islamabad’s “geo-strategic overreach,” and sharpen the national focus on economic growth.

“We should not envisage a future of perennial hostility with our eastern neighbour, though settlement of outstanding conflicts is necessary for economic cooperation with it,” he wrote in reference to India. 

Nowhere in the article was there any mention of Kashmir.