List of ambassadors of Afghanistan to Pakistan

The Afghan ambassador to Pakistan is the top-level diplomatic representative of Afghanistan in Pakistan. The ambassador is in charge of the Afghan embassy in Islamabad. It is politically an important Afghan diplomatic post, due to the Afghan–Pakistani bilateral relationship.[1]

Ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan
Incumbent Najibullah Alikhil since September 2020
Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Style	His Excellency
Residence	Islamabad, Pakistan
Seat	Embassy of Afghanistan
Appointer	President of Afghanistan
Term length	No fixed term
Formation	1947
First holder	Sardar Najibullah Khan
Website	www.mfa.gov.af

List of ambassadors

Kingdom of Afghanistan (1947–1973)

• Sardar Najibullah Khan (December 1947 – 1948)[lower-alpha 1][2][3]
• Sardar Shah Wali Khan (1948–1949)[4][5][6]
• Sardar Atiq Khan (1952 – c. 1955)[7][8]
• Abdul Zahir (1958–1961)[9]

Diplomatic relations were terminated on 6 September 1961 and restored on 28 May 1963.[10]

• Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal (1963–1964)[11][12]
• Mohammad Nur Ahmad Etemadi (1964–1965)[9][13]
• Ali Ahmad Popal (28 June 1969 – c. 1973)[14][15][16]

Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978)

• Mohammad Nur Ahmad Etemadi (1976–1978)[lower-alpha 2][9][17]

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (1978–1992)

• Abdorrashid Arian (c. 1979)[18][19]

Islamic State of Afghanistan (1992–2002)

• Mohammad Siddiq Saljouki (c. 1992)[20][21]
• Masoud Khalili (1995)[22][23]

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)

• Abdul Hakeem Mujahid (1998)[24]
• Mullah Mohammad Said-ur-Rehman Haqqani (1998–2000)[25][26][27][28]
• Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef (2000–2001)[29]

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2002–present)

• Nanguyalai Tarzi (2002–2007)[30]
• Mohammad Anwar Anwarzai (31 July 2007 – 4 September 2008)[31]
• Majnoon Gulab (acting) (2008–2011)[lower-alpha 3][33][34]
• Mohammad Omar Daudzai (April 2011 – August 2013)[34][35]
• Janan Mosazai (November 2013 – January 2016)[36][37]
• Omar Zakhilwal (February 2016 – November 2018)[38][39]
• Atif Mashal (November 2018 – July 2020)[40]
• Najibullah Alikhel (September 2020 – present)[41][1]

See also

• List of ambassadors of Afghanistan
• List of ambassadors of Pakistan to Afghanistan

Notes

1. Appointed as the special representative of the Afghan King to the Dominion of Pakistan.
2. Etemadi served two non-consecutive terms as ambassador to Pakistan.
3. Gulab was the Afghan chargé d'affaires in Islamabad. In September 2008, Afghanistan's ambassador-designate to Pakistan Abdul Khaliq Farahi was abducted by armed gunmen in Peshawar and held in captivity until 13 November 2010.[32][1] Due to his absence, Gulab took over as acting ambassador and held the position until Daudzai's appointment as ambassador in 2011.

References

1. Khan, Tahir (4 September 2020). "Afghanistan appoints career diplomat Alikhil as ambassador to Pakistan". Daily Times. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
2. Cheema, Iqtidar Karamat. "Quaid-i-Azam and Pakistan's Relations with Neighbouring Countries". Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
3. A.Z. Hilali (5 July 2017). US-Pakistan Relationship: Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. Taylor & Francis. pp. 45–. ISBN 978-1-351-87623-0. In November 1947 the Afghan envoy in Pakistan demanded of the new state that Pakhtun tribal areas must form a 'free, sovereign province', and Afghanistan must be given access to the sea through the provision of either 'an Afghan corridor in west Baluchistan' or a free Afghan zone in Karachi. In early 1948, Kabul's envoy, Sardar Najibullah Khan, met the Governor General of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah (Quaid-i-Azam), who listened to his demands politely and made it clear to the Afghan envoy that the boundary would not be readjusted.
4. British Documents on Foreign Affairs--reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print: Burma, Ceylon, India and Pakistan, October 1947-December 1948. 2000. pp. 180–. ISBN 978-1-55655-768-2.
5. Verinder Grover; Ranjana Arora (1995). Political System in Pakistan: Pakistan's relations with the Muslim world. Deep & Deep. p. 377. ISBN 978-81-7100-741-7. Marshal Shah Wali Khan, uncle of King Zahir Shah and a former Prime Minister of Afghanistan, was appointed as the first Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan.
6. Rahi, Arwin (10 September 2020). "Afghanistan and Pakistan's oft-ignored history – 1947-1978". The Express Tribune. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020. Afghanistan and Pakistan held initial negotiations in Karachi in November 1947, and exchanged ambassadors in February 1948.
7. Foreign Affairs Reports. 1952. p. 85. Afghanistan appointed Sardar Atiq Khan Rafiq as Ambassador in Karachi , a post that had been lying vacant ever since June 1949.
8. Collier's ... Year Book Covering the Year ... P.F. Collier & Son. 1956. p. 8. A series of minor incidents followed, even though on April 1 Afghanistan's Ambassador to Pakistan, Sardar Atiq Khan, apologized for the attack.
9. Harris M. Lentz (4 February 2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Routledge. pp. 19–. ISBN 978-1-134-26490-2. He was named deputy foreign minister in 1963 and was appointed ambassador to Pakistan the following year. Etamadi served as foreign minister in the Maiwandwal government from 1965 and succeeded Maiwandwal as prime minister on November 1, 1967... Etamadi remained in the government and served as ambassador to Italy in 1971, to the Soviet Union in 1973, and to Pakistan from 1976 to 1978... Zahir served in the Ministry of Health from 1950 and became minister in 1955. In 1958 he was appointed ambassador to Pakistan, and he served there until 1961...
10. Europa Publications (2 September 2003). A Political Chronology of Central, South and East Asia. Routledge. pp. 3–. ISBN 978-1-135-35680-4.
11. Illustrated Weekly of Pakistan. Pakistan Herald Publications. June 1963. pp. 14–. The occasion was the presentation of the credentials by the Afghan Ambassador, Mr. Muhammad Hashim Maiwandwal...
12. United States. Central Intelligence Agency (1964). Daily Report, Foreign Radio Broadcasts. pp. 19–. ...Mohammed Hashim Maiwandal, Afghan ambassador in Karachi, has been appointed as the minister of press and information in Prime Minister Dr. Muhammed Yusuf's cabinet. (Kabul Domestic English 1400 GMT 19 December 1964)
13. United States. Central Intelligence Agency (1965). Daily Report, Foreign Radio Broadcasts. pp. 35–. A diplomatic reception has been given in honor of Nur Ahmed Etemadi, who has been appointed Afghan ambassador to Pakistan...
14. The Kabul Times Annual. Kabul Times Publishing Agency. 1970. p. 294. Dr. Ali Ahmad Popal, First Deputy Prime Minister is appointed as Ambassador in Pakistan.
15. Louis Dupree (14 July 2014). Afghanistan. Princeton University Press. pp. 693–. ISBN 978-1-4008-5891-0. Dr. Popal was appointed Ambassador to Pakistan in June 1969.
16. Afghanistan, the Making of U.S. Policy, 1973-1990. Chadwyck-Healey, Incorporated. 1991. p. 56. July 23, 1973 - U.S. Embassy officials in Pakistan meet with Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Ali Ahmad Popal in Islamabad.
17. Translations on South and East Asia. Joint Publications Research Service. 1976. p. 77. It has been officially announced in Islamabad that the government has agreed to the appointment of Mr Nur Ahmed Etemadi as Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan. Etemadi has been the prime minister, deputy prime minister, and foreign minister of Afghanistan...
18. British Broadcasting Corporation. Monitoring Service (July 1979). Summary of World Broadcasts: Part 3, The Far East. Monitoring Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. p. A1. The Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan, Abdorrashid Arian, was also present to welcome him...
19. Asian Almanac. V.T. Sambandan. 1979. p. 9742. ...July 1, 1979 for a two day visit and was met by Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Mr Shahnawaz and Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan, Mr Abdorrashid Arian.
20. Raghav Sharma (15 July 2016). Nation, Ethnicity and the Conflict in Afghanistan: Political Islam and the rise of ethno-politics 1992–1996. Taylor & Francis. pp. 169–. ISBN 978-1-317-09012-0.
21. Summary of World Broadcasts: The Far East. Part III. Monitoring Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. 1992. p. 3. Afghan envoy to Islamabad appointed: Mr Mohammad Siddiq Saljouki has been appointed as the liaison officer of the Afghan diplomatic mission in Islamabad by the new Islamic government of Afghanistan.
22. "Afghanistan's Warring Factions Agree to Form a Ruling Council". The New York Times. 12 February 1995. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020. Masood Khalili, Mr. Rabbani's representative in Pakistan, welcomed the agreement but said it lacks guarantees that the participants will stick to it.
23. "Pakistan Expels Afghan Envoy". The Washington Post. 10 October 1995. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
24. Mihalopoulos, Dan (29 September 2001). "Afghan immigrants face identity crisis". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
25. Anne Stenersen (26 July 2017). Al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Cambridge University Press. pp. 86–. ISBN 978-1-107-07513-9.
26. N. Nojumi (30 April 2016). The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War, and the Future of the Region. Palgrave Macmillan US. pp. 139–. ISBN 978-0-312-29910-1.
27. Gutman, Roy (2008). How We Missed the Story: Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban, and the Hijacking of Afghanistan. United States Institute of Peace. pp. 142, 147, 157. ISBN 978-1-601-27024-5.
28. Summary of World Broadcasts: Asia, Pacific. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2000. p. 1. [The Afghan ambassador in Pakistan), Mola Sayd Mohammad Haqqani told Afghan Islamic Press that nobody can proof that that the "Taleban Islamic Emirate" has ever received military aid from anybody else including Pakistan.
29. Abdul Salam Zaeef (16 June 2011). My Life with the Taliban. C. Hurst (Publishers) Limited. pp. 292–. ISBN 978-1-84904-152-2.
30. "Former Afghan ambassadors to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland". Permanent Mission of Afghanistan in Geneva. 2019. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
31. Shaheen, Sikander (21 August 2008). "'Musharraf's resignation to strengthen democracy'". The Nation. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
32. "Abducted diplomat released after two years". ABC News. 14 November 2010. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
33. Reeves, Philip (20 August 2009). "Pakistan Waits For Afghan Election Results". NPR. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020. Yeah, this is the office of our ambassador. I'm just acting ambassador in the capacity of charge d'affaires.
34. "Umar Daudzai appointed Afghan envoy to Pakistan". The News. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020. Daudzai is the senior most official of the Afghan government who has been picked for posting in Pakistan. Afghanistan has appointed full fledged ambassador in Pakistan after five years in the wake of a number of mishaps and unpleasant events... Majnoon Gulab, who is minister counsellor and deputy head of the mission since February 2006 and acting as Charge díAffairs since then, would be now be returning to Afghan capital.
35. Khan, Tahir (7 July 2020). "Afghan president appoints Umer Daudzai as special envoy for Pakistan". Daily Times. Archived from the original on 17 August 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020. He served Afghan Envoy to Pakistan from April 2011 to August 2013 soon after the appointment of the High Peace Council to lead dialogue with Taliban.
36. Khan, Tahir (16 November 2013). "Kabul appoints Foreign Ministry spokesperson as new envoy to Islamabad". The Express Tribune. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2020. Mosazai, a young but seasoned diplomat, has replaced Umer Daudzai who was appointed Interior Minister in September.
37. "Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Mosazai departs for home country". Khyber News. 14 January 2016. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
38. "Seven envoys present credentials to president". The News. 10 February 2016. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
39. "Farewell for Afghan ambassador". Dawn. 19 November 2018. Archived from the original on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
40. Khan, Tahir (29 July 2020). "Afghan ambassador to Pakistan says resigning to 'pursue higher education'". Arab News Pakistan. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
41. "Don't harass Afghans, Pakistan asks security organs". Pajhwok Afghan News. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.