US President Joe Biden is nominating a career diplomat Donald Blome as his envoy to Pakistan, soon after U.S. troops left Afghanistan, giving up control to the Taliban and plunging the country into crisis.
Blome is currently serving as the US ambassador in Tunisia. He previously worked in the Kabul embassy and is a career Foreign Service diplomat.
The United States has frozen access to aid or foreign reserves in Afghanistan and the country is on the verge of humanitarian collapse.
The nomination comes at a time when the U.S. is also interested in Pakistan’s relationship with China.
Tunisia, where Blome has worked as ambassador since 2019, is an important diplomatic outpost for the United States in North Africa, representing interests beyond the country’s borders, including in neighbouring Libya.
The ambassadorial position requires Senate confirmation.
