WASHINGTON: The newly-appointed Pakistani Ambassador to the United States (US) Ali Jehangir Siddiqui on Friday presented his credentials to President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House.
Cornell-educated, successful banker Siddiqui succeeds Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who was a career diplomat, as Pakistan’s 28th Ambassador to the United States.
Siddique presented his credentials to Trump during a ceremony in the Oval Office which included envoys from seven other countries.
They are Virachai Plasai from Thailand, Ngote Gali Koutou from Chad, Sankatana Gabriel Maja from Lesotho, Mahamadou Nimaga from Mali, Cristina Balan from Moldova, Momar Diop from Senegal and Emily Margarethe Haber from Germany.
In his welcome message on the embassy website, Siddiqi said that there was a great deal of promise and potential in Pakistan-US relations.
“I have taken this challenging responsibility with full confidence that we can accomplish great things together,” he said.
Siddiqui’s appointment as his country’s top diplomat comes at a time when US-Pakistan relationship is at low, mainly after the Trump administration accused the Pakistani government of deceit with regards to actions against terrorist groups and safe havens inside the country.
Early this year, Trump decided to suspend all financial aid to Pakistan, because of the continuing existence of alleged terrorist safe havens which Pakistan denies.
