Pakistan's first-ever woman foreign secretary takes charge

ISLAMABAD: Tehmina Janjua on Monday assumed charge as Pakistan's new foreign secretary, becoming the first woman in the history of the country to assume the position, Radio Pakistan reported.

Janjua replaced Aizaz Chaudhry, a career diplomat who has taken up charge as Pakistan's new ambassador to the United States. She was long considered a favourite for the position.

Having joined the Foreign Service in 1984, Janjua's experience has mainly been in multilateral diplomacy.

She served as Ambassador of Pakistan to Italy from December 2011 to October 2015.

Among her other overseas postings are stints at the UN in New York and Geneva.

Janjua has not served on a major territorial desk at the headquarters, except for a year-long posting at the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe desk at the start of her foreign service career.