By Tahir Khan
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Friday that Pakistan has elevated its diplomatic representation in Afghanistan to the level of ambassador, amid growing high-level interactions and improving bilateral ties in recent months.
“Pakistan-Afghanistan relations are on a positive trajectory after my very productive visit to Kabul with the Pakistan delegation on April 19, 2025. To maintain this momentum, I am pleased to announce the Government of Pakistan’s decision to upgrade the level of its Chargé d’Affaires in Kabul to Ambassador,” Dar wrote on X.
Ubaid ur Rehman Nizamani, a senior diplomat, had been serving as Head of Mission/Charge d’Affaires at the Pakistani embassy in Kabul since November 2022.
Previously, Mansoor Ahmad Khan served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan until his retirement from the foreign service in August 2023. He had continued in his post after the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
The Afghan interim government installed its envoy at the Afghan embassy in Islamabad in October 2021, and Pakistan was the first country to hand over the mission to the Taliban.
“I am confident this step will further contribute towards enhanced engagement, deepen Pak-Afghan cooperation in economic, security, counter-terrorism and trade areas, and promote further exchanges between our two fraternal countries,” Dar said.
An Afghan Foreign Ministry official told Hum News English that they would issue a separate statement. Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb has been working as the Afghan Charge d’Affaires in Islamabad since October 2021.
Former ambassador Mansoor Ahmad Khan said the development stems from recent bilateral engagements and trilateral efforts involving China.
“The two countries now have space to enhance formal institutional engagement through agreements, memorandums of understanding, and other cooperative arrangements in areas such as security, trade, transit, investment, education, and health,” he told Hum News English.
“While the appointment of full ambassadors does not directly imply formal recognition, it is a step in that direction—signalling political will to enhance engagement across all sectors,” he added.
With this decision, Charge d’Affaires Ubaid Nizamani formally became Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan. Diplomatic relations had remained at the Cd’A level since Ambassador Khan’s retirement in September 2022.
Relations between the two countries had seen significant tensions over the past three years, especially concerning cross-border attacks allegedly carried out by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch insurgents. Pakistani officials maintain that such groups use Afghan territory for attacks, a claim the Taliban authorities deny.
Despite these challenges, both sides are expected to continue engagement on pressing issues such as militancy, in order to move forward on shared goals including regional economic integration.
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China has played a key role in facilitating the thaw. Beijing hosted Pakistani and Afghan acting Foreign Ministers in a trilateral meeting on May 21, which reportedly paved the way for Islamabad’s announcement.
“To strengthen exchanges and diplomatic contacts, Afghanistan and Pakistan expressed clear willingness to elevate diplomatic relations and agreed in principle to exchange ambassadors as soon as possible,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement after the meeting. “China welcomes this and will continue to assist in improving Afghan relations.”
Dar also met Wang Yi on Friday in Hong Kong—his second meeting with the Chinese foreign minister this month—according to the Pakistani Foreign Office. Both leaders reaffirmed their resolve to promote regional peace and stability.
Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq said Islamabad’s decision would advance cooperation in all fields for the mutual benefit of both nations. “Pakistan-Afghanistan relations are on a positive trajectory after Dar’s visit to Kabul in April,” he wrote on X.
Who is Ubaid ur Rehman Nizamani?
Ubaid ur Rehman Nizamani, who has formally taken charge as Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan following Islamabad’s decision to upgrade its diplomatic representation in Kabul, is a seasoned foreign service officer with more than two decades of experience in key bilateral and multilateral roles.
Nizamani had been serving as Pakistan’s Head of Mission and Charge d’Affaires in Kabul since November 2022, steering diplomatic engagement during a particularly sensitive phase in Pak-Afghan ties.
Prior to his posting in Kabul, Nizamani held several high-profile positions abroad, including as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington DC from November 2019 to February 2021. In that role, he oversaw the embassy’s full portfolio—spanning political, economic, trade and consular affairs—on behalf of the ambassador.
He also served as Minister (Political) at the same mission from April 2016 to October 2019, managing Pakistan’s bilateral political engagements with the United States, including liaising with key U.S. institutions such as the State Department, Department of Defense, National Security Council, Congress, and various think tanks.
Between 2013 and 2016, Nizamani was posted to India, where he initially served as Political Counsellor and later as Deputy High Commissioner at the High Commission for Pakistan in New Delhi. He was the principal contact for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), and also coordinated operations across all sections of the mission.
His earlier assignments include stints in Dhaka as Political Counsellor from 2009 to 2011, where he also held additional charge as Commercial Counsellor and liaised with Bhutan, and in Berlin from 2005 to 2009, where he worked as First Secretary and later Political Counsellor. In Germany, he was the focal point for political reporting, education cooperation and Pakistan’s engagement during Germany’s presidency of the G8 and the EU.
Nizamani began his diplomatic career with a posting at the Pakistani Consulate in Jeddah as Vice Consul from 1999 to 2002, assisting the large Pakistani expatriate community in Saudi Arabia.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, Nizamani has served in various leadership roles. Most recently, he was Director General for Europe from April to October 2022. In 2021, he headed the South Asia & SAARC division and also led the Kashmir Cell. As Director for the Americas (2011–2013), he played a pivotal role in the reopening of NATO supply routes (GLOCs) following the Salala incident and was part of Pakistan’s team negotiating a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with the U.S.
His earlier headquarters roles include stints as Deputy Director for the USA desk, the Personnel Division, and the South East Asia & Pacific desk.
Nizamani holds a BA with First Class Honours in Economics and Literature from the University of Sindh (1992) and is a graduate of the Foreign Service Programme at University College, Oxford (2003–2004), where he earned distinction in all subjects.