The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday announced the appointment of Ali Jahangir Siddiqui as ambassador-at-large for investment “in an honorary capacity”. An ambassador-at-large is given special duties and not appointed to a particular country. Siddiqui’s appointment as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States in the previous government had been met with severe criticism from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, which was in the opposition at the time. The party had said that Siddiqui did not have any prior experience regarding diplomatic missions and alleged that he had accountability cases pending against him. This resulted in a loss of Rs40 billion to various financial and government institutions.