JEDDAH — The Kingdom has endorsed the candidature of Ambassador Muhammad Naeem Khan for the post of Assistant Secretary General from the Asian region at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Ambassador Khan is currently serving as Pakistan's envoy in Riyadh and is a Permanent Representative to OIC in Jeddah. According to Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Abdul Aziz Bin Ibrahim Al-Ghadeer, Saudi envoy in Islamabad, called on Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the prime minister on national security and foreign affairs in Islamabad and handed him a letter signed by the Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Foreign Minister, committing the Kingdom's support for Pakistan's candidature for the important post. Several other brotherly countries from OIC have also indicated their support to Ambassador Khan. Pakistan being the coordinator of COMSTECH – the OIC's Standing Committee on Science and Technology – plans to host a Science and Technology Summit of the OIC in the first half of 2014. Pakistan believes that Ambassador Khan would bring his experience – with particular reference to science, technology and developmental issues – and would also lend continuity and better coordination to the OIC work in the areas of science and technology. Ambassador Khan has taken various new initiatives to further strengthen bilateral relations between the Kingdom and Pakistan. He enjoys excellent support from expatriate Pakistanis and their Saudi brethren. Elections for the post of Assistant Secretary General for the period 2014-19 are likely to be held at the forthcoming 40th Session of OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Conakry, Guinea in the second week of December 2013.
