US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome has assumed his new duties in Islamabad.
According to the United States Embassy, the new envoy will play a crucial role in strengthening bilateral ties. Blome will be the first full-time ambassador to Pakistan since August 2018, when outgoing U.S. envoy David Hale returned to the United States. The Trump administration did not assign a permanent representative to Islamabad.
US President Joe Biden appointed him in October, and the US Senate confirmed his appointment in March, citing the importance of the Partnership with Pakistan for advancing regional security, trade and investment, the climate crisis, and human rights. Last week. Wendy Sherman, the Deputy Secretary of State, administered the oath and praised him as an outstanding choice to build upon 75 years of US-Pakistan relations.
Blome – who previously served in US diplomatic missions in Tunisia, Kabul, Jerusalem, Cairo, Baghdad, and Kuwait – was sworn in at a time when Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto was in the United States to attend a global conference. On the sidelines of this meeting, he met with key US figures, including Secretary of State-US Secretary of State Antony Blinkeny and Congressman Ami Bera, reaffirming Pakistan’s determination to play a central role in global peace efforts.
Bloom is a Senior Foreign Service minister-counselor with a distinguished career. He held the positions of civilian co-director at the Multinational Force Strategic Engagement Cell in Baghdad, political counselor at the US Embassy in Kuwait, and Israel desk officer, deputy director, and acting director at the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs. Ambassador Blome graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA and a JD.
