Senior Pakistani diplomat Shahbaz Hussain Khokhar has formally assumed charge as consul general at Pakistan’s consulate in Kandahar, filling a post that had stood empty for many months.
Islamabad has assigned the BPS-20 Foreign Service of Pakistan officer to the southern Afghan city at a moment when Kandahar matters both as a political centre inside Afghanistan and as a corridor for any future expansion of bilateral trade and cross-border economic links with Pakistan. Officials also see the posting as relevant to Islamabad’s effort to press Afghan leaders on Pakistan’s account of terrorism and of safe sanctuaries on Afghan soil.
Vacancy ended after agrément delay
The consul general’s seat in Kandahar remained unfilled for a prolonged period because of procedural delays in Kabul’s acceptance of the agrément—the host government’s formal consent to a proposed head of post. With that clearance now in place, Khokhar has taken up his duties at the consulate.
Pakistan–Afghanistan trade is suspended at present. Once commerce resumes, strengthening trade and economic engagement with Afghanistan is expected to be a priority. The Pakistani consulate in Kandahar already hosts a trade and commercial officer, underlining the economic dimension of the mission even while border commerce remains closed.
Diplomat with prior Afghanistan experience
Before this assignment, Khokhar served in Islamabad as Director General Europe at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has earlier worked at Pakistan’s missions in Rome and Brussels.
From 2016 to 2019 he was deputy head of mission at the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul, giving him direct diplomatic experience in Afghanistan ahead of the Kandahar posting.
What comes next
Khokhar’s arrival restores a senior Pakistani presence in a city described as strategically important for political contact and for any renewal of economic connectivity. How quickly trade can restart remains outside the scope of what has been confirmed so far; the immediate development is that Pakistan again has a consul general on the ground in Kandahar, backed by existing commercial staff at the consulate.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Pakistan ne Kandahar mein naya consul general bhej diya hai, Shahbaz Hussain Khokhar. Yeh seat kai mahine khali thi kyun ke Kabul ne ijazat der se di. Filhaal Pakistan–Afghanistan trade band hai; jab khulegi to yeh consulate tijarat barhane mein madadgar ho sakti hai. Aam logon ke liye seedha matlab yeh hai ke dono mulkon ke darmiyan rabta aur mustaqbil ki tijarat ke liye Pakistan ka senior diplomat wahan maujood hai.
