WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: The Senate of the United States confirmed President Joe Biden’s nominee for ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Blome, filling the high-profile post nearly five months after his nomination.
“Partnership with Pakistan is key to progress on regional security, trade and investment, the climate crisis, and human rights,” said the State Department following the confirmation.
Blome assumes the post in Islamabad as the United States works to manage the situation in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of foreign troops in August last year.
Blome, who was previously the US ambassador in Tunisia, has served American diplomatic missions in Kabul, Jerusalem, Cairo, Baghdad and Kuwait.
He is a career Foreign Service diplomat with long experience in the region who once worked in the Kabul embassy, shuttered last year during the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
According to his profile, Blome possesses over 20 years of experience working in the Middle East with postings in Jerusalem, Kabul and Cairo.
The last US ambassador to Pakistan, David Hale, left Islamabad in August 2018, shortly after the formation of the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government. After his exit, Paul W. Jones took charge of the American mission in Islamabad as charge d’affaires.
He left Pakistan in August 2020, with incumbent Angela Aggeler serving as charge d’affaires in Islamabad since then.
In December, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a plea to the Senate to speed up the confirmations of President Biden’s nominees to the post of ambassador, observing delays hampered efforts to tackle foreign policy challenges.
Nominees do not become ambassadors until they are confirmed by the US Senate.
Biden has pledged to restore US leadership in the world through diplomacy, after four years of a unilateral approach espoused by his predecessor Donald Trump, and having Senate-confirmed nominees is crucial in achieving that goal.
Pakistan is playing a major role in diplomacy with its Taliban-ruled neighbour.
International agencies have warned that Afghanistan is on the verge of humanitarian collapse without access to aid or foreign reserves, which remain frozen in the United States.
Pakistan’s relationship with China has also been of interest to the Biden administration, which regards Beijing as its chief international rival.
Tunisia, where Blome has worked as ambassador since 2019, is an important diplomatic outpost for the United States in North Africa, representing interests beyond the country’s borders, including in neighbouring Libya.
— With input from Reuters
