Tehmina Janjua, Pakistan's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, was on Monday appointed as the country's first woman foreign secretary.
Janjua will replace incumbent foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, who will be taking charge as Pakistan's new ambassador to the US, Foreign Office said on Monday night.
"Tehmina Janjua will assume the post of Foreign Secretary in the first week of March 2017," it said in a statement.
Earlier, local media reports had said Pakistan's high commissioner to India Abdul Basit and its envoy to China Masood Khalid were among the front-runners.
Janjua is a seasoned diplomat with a career spanning over 32 years. She holds a Masters degrees from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad and Columbia University, New York.
Janjua has rich experience of working in bilateral and multilateral domains both at Headquarters and Missions abroad, the statement said.
She also served as Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Pakistan's envoy to Italy.
At present, she has been serving as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in Geneva since October 2015.
Last year, she had raised Kashmir issue at the UNHRC and engaged in a war of words with Indian diplomats.
