ISLAMABAD: Senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs officer, Abdul Basit has opted for early retirement, local media sources have reported.
Abdul Basit has been serving as Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India. He has submitted an application to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his early retirement. Basit was due to retire from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in April 2018.
As per media reports, Basit was not happy with preference being given to a junior officer for Secretary Affairs position over senior officials by the government.
Abdul Basit joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1982 and had been assigned several diplomatic assignments at Pakistani Missions abroad.
Prior to his appointment as the High Commissioner to India in 2014, Basit had served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Germany from May 2012 till March 2014.
